RWBY: From ashes
by BassGuru
Summary: *This story takes place immediately after Volume 1* Penny has a secret she seems to be keeping from the team... what is it? Will it compromise the tournament? (This story also focuses on the friendship of the four. No shipping, though, except for the obvious, like Pyrrha and Jaune. So if you expect that, sorry.)
1. Chapter 1: Black and White

*This story takes place immediately after volume one, but does not necessarily follow the plot from volume 1. For example, in my version, Blake and Weiss did not yet make up.*

Black and White

The four girls sat in a circle, all staring at the youngest in the front."I think after tonight, we should all get to know each other a little… better," Ruby Rose's voice squeaked.

"Weiss… why don't you go first?" Ruby said.

The young girl, clad in white, moaned. "As you _all _know, my family owns the Schnee dust company. MY family's been at war with the White Fang. " Weiss looked at Ruby, as if signaling that she was done.

"Weiss, tell us more? That can't possibly be it!" Ruby stated.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "I can't really explain myself, or how I feel, to you in my own words. It's a fairly hard task, you know!"

Ruby sighed. "Weiss!" She exclaimed.

"Well… There is a poem I read a while back, when I was a mere child… It was simply called _Winter. _I suppose I resembles me well. It goes like this:"

_Winter is cold and always yearning._

_People stand back in fear of it, only to marvel at it from afar._

_Winter is cruel and cold, never relenting._

_Many attempt to explore it's majesty, _

_only to lose themselves in it's fierce winds._

_Winter is absolute beauty,_

_Trapped in a cage woven by it's own hands._

"It's a short poem, I know. But it represents me in… a way." Weiss said.

Yang interrupted, "That poem perfectly resembles you!"

Weiss turned a bright shade of red saying, "Oh please… Wait… is that a compliment or an insult?"

Before anything happened, Ruby intervened. "Ok. Blake, your turn."

Blake looked around, as if asking for help she would not get. With an exasperated look, she sighed. "As you now know, I used to be a member of the White Fang. When I was a child I used to participate in the peaceful protests, thinking and hoping I was making a change. As I grew up, times changed, and the White Fang turned to violence. I did nothing to stop the people I knew and loved from the violence, so I therefore joined in. I quickly realized the terror we had forever burdened humans with. I was doing something I wished not to do. One day, I said, no more. During a robbery of a dust train-"

Before anyone could stop it, Weiss bolted up. "_You _aided in that robbery? _**YOU?**_" Ruby signaled her to sit down, and surprisingly, she complied.

" As I was saying, I aided in the robbery of a dust train, and realizing my wrongs, abandoned my partner. I haven't seen him since."

Ruby intervened. "See? She saw that she was doing something wrong and she simply left. Besides, she was kicking that White Fang guy's ass! If she was in the White Fang, she wouldn't of done it."

Weiss still didn't seem satisfied. "What about Sun?"

Blake laughed. "The Faunus freak? He actually despises the White Fang."

Weiss **still ** didn't seem satisfied. "I understand you didn't want to do it, you were just a pawn, and I hope you know I can never fully forgive you, but do you still despise humans?"

Blake grinned. "Of course not! I just don't like the way they treat my people, that's all."

Weiss pouted. That was it. Blake couldn't take it. "Why can't you forgive me? I told you everything!"

Weiss took a moment and stared straight into Blake's yellow eyes, saying "Blake, I cannot forgive you because your actions are your responsibilities! Although you may not have been thinking when you did those actions, that moment of carelessness is your responsibility, therefore you are guilty! Saying you weren't thinking or that you were following the crowd does not soften the blow!"

Blake nodded. "I understand your point. Hopefully, we can still be… friends." Ruby smiled. "Ok. My turn."

_**To be continued in…**_

**CRIMSON GOLD**


	2. Chapter 2: Crimson Gold

Crimson Gold

"I see what you mean Weiss… It's hard to explain myself…" Ruby stated. As Ruby stated this, the group woke from their slumber. "You were _sleeping?!" _

Yang quickly came to their defense. "You took a really long time to think, Ruby!"

Ruby pouted. "It's hard you know. I really don't have much to say that I haven't told you."

Blake, trying to get the fire started, asked, "So which one of you was adopted?"

Yang and Ruby immediately put their head down in shame. "We are **NOT **adopted! Everyone thinks that! Urggh!" Ruby said fiercely.

"I'm sorry! It's just that you have very different last names and… features…" Blake countered.

"Anyway," started Ruby, "We are sisters from the blood. Yang and I have a good relationship. Yang always helped me out with school, and always read me stories."

Yang laughed. "Yeah, but you're a bitch about it-"

Ruby came to her own defense. "I am **NOT!" **she said childishly, "I just don't like when you baby me."

Yang raised her eyebrows. "Told you she was." She said.

"Whatever, Yang," Began Ruby, "She was always there for me when I needed it-"

Yang raised her finger, "Not necessarily always."

Ruby turned red as her combat skirt. "_**UURGH! **_I'm trying to make you look like a good person!" She explained.

Yang grinned, "Okay, continue."

Ruby sighed. "As I was saying, she's _almost_ always there for me. Except for the first day of school. And the thing with that boy. And when she blamed things on me. But whatever, otherwise, she there for me a lot. So, I love her a lot."

Yang smiled, "Thank you!"

Under her breath, Ruby said, "Whatever." Yang didn't seem to notice.

"Wait," Weiss begun, "How'd you get into Beacon, Ruby? You never told us?"

Ruby looked happy to be asked this question. "You know that Torchwick guy?" she asked. The group nodded. "Yeah, he robbed some dust store I was in, and I took down all of his goons and came into pursuit of him. He was getting away on a big flying thingy when Glynda Goodwich showed up and nearly stopped him. I fainted and-"

The group seemed to find this amusing. "You _fainted?"_ They jeered. Ruby blushed.

"Yeah, Yeah, whatever. Anyway, I woke up in some office and Ozpin walkedinandIfreakedoutandthenheaskedmetojoinBeaconcausehesawmybadasseryand-" Ruby stopped to catch breath, but before starting again, she was stopped by Blake.

"_What the hell was that?"_

Yang intervened. "Sometimes she speaks really fast while explaining something. I got this; I speak fluent Ruby. She said: Ozpin walked in, then she freaked out, and he asked her to join Beacon, because he saw her badassery in the fight." Ruby nodded in agreement.

"Oh." Weiss said. "You know each other very well, don't you?"

Yang rolled her eyes. "Obviously, we just told you our damn life story!" Weiss pouted. "It was a rhetorical question, Yang." She yawned. "I'm going to go to bed. The tournaments in a couple weeks."

Just then Ruby remembered. "What about Penny?" all of the girls looked at each other.

"She must've gone off somewhere, I mean, we barely know her! She'll pop up again sometime." Ruby didn't look convinced.

"Ok, ok. But I still don't think she'd just disappear out of nowhere." Yang rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Ruby, I'm getting tired. Is this meeting over?"

Ruby immediately said, "No. We need to talk about Penny! You saw how good she was at fighting! She wiped out three darn airships! She shot sword from thin air!"

Blake said, "She could have Pyrrha's power, magnetic control or whatever it is."

Ruby sat on the thought. "Maybe. But all the same, she did that laser thing with the swords! Pyrrha can't do _that." _

Weiss decided to speak up.

"What happened over there, anyway?" Ruby seemed to forget Yang and Weiss weren't there.

"Penny kicked ass. She took down three airships, and at least two dozen guys. It was absolutely insane!"

Weiss seemed surprised. "Penny?" Ruby nodded. "I know, right?"

Yang spoke up. "She's going to compete in the tournament, right? If she's as killer as you say, she'll probably win."

Ruby moaned. "That's the problem! We don't know where she went! She might not even be here for the tournaments!"

Yang just wanted to sleep. "Ruby, calm down. She's a big girl, she can handle herself." Ruby sighed. "I don't know, she seems pretty helpless."

Blake and Weiss nodded in agreement.

"She does seem a little helpless…"

Yang burst. "What the f- Oh, I can't say that, this is rated t. Darn it. Whatever. What the _hell _are you talking about? You just said she kicked major ass!"

Ruby countered, saying, "Yeah, but you saw her before, laying on the ground. She's not the smartest. She maybe tactful, but definitely not the most logical. Yang sighed. "I just want to go to sleep!"

Blake rolled her eyes. "It's only 9:00…" she said.

"Ok. Anyway, let's rewind here. Are you two friends again?" Ruby asked, pointing at Blake and Weiss. They looked at each other. Weiss was the first to speak.

"Yeah, I don't really care she's a Faunus."

Blake agreed. "As long as she's fine with me, I'm fine with her. Ruby seemed quite content with her work.

"I'm glad we sorted it out. Wait, Blake, are you in with that Sun guy?" Ruby asked.

Blake laughed. "Sure, I guess." She replied. Ruby nodded, looking a tad bit disappointed. At this, Yang burst out laughing.

"HA! Ruby, you had plans for him, didn't you!" Ruby immediately turned red. "Did _**NOT!" **_Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Stop being so foolish." She said. Ruby looked Weiss straight in the eye, just beginning a sentence, and noticed a little scar. "How'd you get that?" Ruby asked, pointing at Weiss's scar. Weiss regretted her asking this question.

"I... I..." Weiss struggled to answer this question. It brought back unwanted memories.

Ruby saw the expression on Weiss's face, and took action. "Why don't go to slee-" Before Ruby could finish the sentence, the girls were off. Ruby slouched in her bed. She had a lot to think of, tonight.


	3. Chapter 3: Penny

Penny

_Please review, I need to know what mistakes I may have made, and I'd love to hear from other fans! Also, sorry for posting the same chapter twice. My bad._

As soon as the sunlight shined through the dorm, Ruby was up. She quickly pulled open the blinds to wake the other girls. Weiss, exhausted, propped herself on one elbow.

"Ruby? What is it?" Ruby, before answering Weiss's question, waited for the other's attention.

"We are going to find Penny, or at least find out where she went." Said Ruby. A chorus of groans and sighs rang out in the dorm. Ruby rolled her eyes. "She's our friend, you know." She said. Blake laughed.

"She's_ your_ friend." She retorted. Ruby did not like this reply.

"She could be in danger! Now come on!" Ruby said, pulling the blankets off of the girls. "Get changed! Come on!" She eagerly said. As the girls all got changed and got ready, Ruby looked around in admiration of her team. Finally, some co-operation, Ruby thought. Just as this thought crossed her mind, Yang blew it.

"_Whyyyyyy?_ I mean, yeah, she could be in danger, but she's probably fine! We don't have to look for her! It's Saturday for Pete's sake!" Yang complained. Ruby ignored Yang and continued to admire her team. As soon as they were ready, Ruby jumped up in excitement.

"First, let's head to the tournament's office in Downtown Vale. We can ask them if they know of her whereabouts." The group trudged their feet through the doors, and out the school. They took the bus to Downtown Vale. Ruby, of course, was the first to step off the bus.

"Let us go, comrades!" She said, marching down the street, to where the tournament office lay. The rest of the group lay loosely behind, whispering in each other's ear of how trivial this search was.

"_I don't get why we have to do this on a Saturday!" _ Whispered Blake into Weiss's ear.

"_I know, it really stinks!"_ Weiss whispered back. Ruby turned around, giving the two a dirty look. As she was turning around, she hit her head against a hanging sign, which read: Vale Tournament Office. Yang burst out laughing.

"We're here, I think." Said Yang. Ruby stood up, scratching her head.

"Very funny. Let's head inside and see what they know."

Ruby gracefully trotted to the front desk, which was much to tall for her. Her head barely reached the surface of the huge desk. A mean, scarred face looked down upon her.

"Yes?" A coarse voice called out.

"Umm… Our friend has sort of… disappeared. She's participating in the Vale Tournament and I believe you may have an idea of where she could of went." Ruby told the man.

The man looked through a dusty old book, only looking up to tell the young girl, "I cannot help you. I can tell you where she lives. Perhaps, young woman, you should inform the police of this. They could help you." Ruby grew impatient.

"The police wouldn't help very much sir, I don't believe she got into too much trouble." Ruby lied. She did not want to tell the police simply for the fact that they might fear the Penny's power and ban her from the tournaments, which would most likely be the outcome. The man sighed.

"Her address is 86 RT Way." Ruby quickly gave her thanks, and was out the door, along with the gang.

"Isn't that the place where we first met her?" Weiss asked. Ruby nodded.

The street was fairly close, only 5 blocks down. They reached the head of the street, exhausted from running. They began to walk down the narrow and crooked street. _83…84…85…__**86!**_ There it was. Yang gasped in sheer surprise. Blake rolled her eyes, as if saying 'don't act surprised', and Weiss merely stared at the colorful house.

It was painted magenta, and had green stripes down the middle. The yard was littered with colorful flowers and an assortment of magazines, like "Engineering weekly" or "Best Robots in the World!" Ruby grinned, walking to the front steps and knocking. The door was immediately thrown open, and a rainbow clad man stepped out the door.

"Salutations, friend!" said the man. The man wore a brown robe, parted down the middle. A tie dye shirt covered his chest, and he wore sandals. Yang had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"How do you do today, Little Red?" Queried the man. Ruby gave a nervous smile, saying:

"I'm- ummm- doing fine, sir!"

The man nodded wildly. "My name is Carl! Now what is yours?" Carl asked, pointing at the girls.

"I'm Ruby"

"I'm Yang"

"Umm… Terry… " Weiss said.

Blake dug her elbow into Weiss's side.

"I mean… Weiss."

"I'm Blake." Carl looked around at the girls, smiling. "What do you do here, today?"

Ruby nervously replied, "Carl… uh… sir…. We're looking for Penny."

Carl's eyes opened wide. "She wasn't lying about friends! _Wow!_ You see, she's never had a single friend! Wow, this is great. I'll get her for you now."

The man closed the door. Ruby looked back at the girls.

"Really Weiss?" Weiss blushed furiously.

"I don't know the man! I don't want him and I on a first name basis!"

Blake laughed. "_**Terry. **_Of all things, _**Terry**_."

Weiss laughed with Blake. Ruby took a second to admire her handicraft, before the door opened.

"Good morning, friends!" Penny said, stepping out of the doorway."What brings you guys here?" Penny asked.

Ruby looked at the others, asking for help. She would get none.

"Penny," started Ruby, "Where did you go last night? You just disappeared." Penny looked around nervously.

"My uncle picked me up, silly! I have a curfew, you know." Penny said shakily. Ruby saw the uncertainty in her voice, but decided not to explore further. She was safe, and whatever had happened after the fight was her business. She could've just headed home, or she might've gone to the police. Yang interrupted Ruby's thoughts.

"Who's up for a drink?"

* * *

><p>After leaving Penny, they were back at the dorm, the gang deep in conversation.<p>

"What do you think she did?" asked Weiss. Ruby sat in deep thought.

"I think she went to the police." She said.

"No," Blake's voice said, "I mean, I don't know. You saw her during that fight. She could be part of a group of badasses, and she might of gone off to a meeting, or maybe tell her people what happened."

Everyone stood in dead silence, staring at Blake. "It's just an idea…" She countered.

"Hey. Wait. She acts kind of robotic, right? And those swords from her back…" Weiss thought aloud. Ruby was losing her patience.

"She's not a robot! And anyway, if she was part of some secret group, it would be more obvious…" Ruby contemplated. Yang didn't seem too amused.

"Shut up! I want to sleep!" Yang exclaimed. The girls complied, and quickly fell asleep, left to their dreams.


	4. Chapter 4: The Circle

The Circle

_*This was a really bad chapter, I know. Sorry, it was very late when I wrote this. This is just to thicken the plot, I promise better written chapters in the future._

Daylight shined bright through the dorms. This time, it was not Ruby who woke everyone, but instead, surprisingly, Weiss. The girls awoke, questioning why they were disturbed. Weiss simply pointed out the window, dumbfounded. Yang and Ruby rushed to the window, Yang following loosely behind. Ruby peered out the window. As her eyes went into focus, she mouthed the words 'Oh my goodness…' For Penny sat right there, perched on a small rock protruding from the school ground.

"What is she doing here? How'd she even _get _up here?" Yang retorted, just as surprised as everyone else. The school was virtually inaccessible without airship; how she got up here was a complete mystery.

"We should check if she's alright. She looks a bit worried." Blake suggested. All three girls nodded in agreement, and headed for the door. As they jogged down the corridors, they heard questions of why they were in such a rush; not surprisingly, these queries were brushed aside as they ran down dozens of corridors, finally reaching the main doors.

They opened the doors to find Penny in the exact spot they had seen her through the dorm window. She looked quite troubled. Penny seemed to hear them coming, put on a smile, and happily cocked her head to where they stood.

"Hello, friends!" She chanted. Blake and Weiss looked at each other, using their eyes to communicate who would be faced with the burden of asking Penny how she got up here. It was silently decided Blake would be the one to ask the question.

"Penny, how did you get up here?" Blake asked. The question seemed to rustle up Penny's emotions, and her face turned from a snow white to a furious blush red. She began to sob, letting out small spasms. The group quickly rushed to her side. Ruby seemed the most troubled of them all.

"What's wrong?" Asked Ruby, merely whispering. Penny, eyes riddled with tears, looked up at Ruby.

"I told you if I had friends, I wouldn't want them to keep secrets." Penny began. "But I have kept a secret from you. And… I…. I ca-cannot bring myself to tell you, my own friends." With this finished sentence came another wave of sobs.

"Look, you can tell us, we will keep it our own secret, we promise." Said Yang. Penny looked up once again.

"I know I can trust you, but the information could put you and me in danger…"

Team RWBY all looked at each other, and in unison, said, "That doesn't matter."

Penny seemed relieved. "I suppose…. I suppose I sh-should tell you then…" started Penny. "I don't know where to begin. I… I'm merely 3 years old, I suppose that's a start."

Weiss and Blake exchanged surprised looks, but before anything could be said, Penny started again.

"I'm an android. I was built for the tournament, along with many others, so my creator could win, gain the money, and therefore use the money for his evil schemes. He will start by completely eradicating all Faunus," said Penny, looking at Blake.

"He despises them. He will then continue to attempt to become a government official using his newfound reputation, then rising the ranks, until he is leader of Vale." Penny told the girls. Ruby stopped her.

"And these other androids?" She asked. Penny, not looking Ruby in the eye, answered.

"They are merely sheep, my creator is the Sheppard. _They _were built emotionless, only loyal to the Creator. He accidentally misbuilt me, adding emotion to my hardware. He still saw my power, and kept me alive." She said. Weiss was still confused.

"Who was that man at the door? Your supposed 'father'? Also, what is this Creator's name?" She asked. Penny quickly replied.

"The man is a surveillance unit. He keeps an eye on me, and reports to my Creator.

"I have reprogrammed him, so he sends false information to the Creator; who has no name. I do not know his name, he never told me or the others. I've never seen his face, or heard his voice. I get commands through the surveillance unit." Penny stated.

The group all had different reactions to this. Yang sat with her arms crossed, contemplating. Ruby simply stared at Penny. Weiss seemed to be thinking, but Blake still was not satisfied.

"Penny, how did you get up here?" She repeated. Penny inappropriately laughed. "I flew up here, silly! I'm an android!" She said. Ruby looked up, confused. Why was she so happy? That was no concern, she thought, brushing aside the comment, I must find out how we can help.

"Penny? How can we stop this guy?" Penny seemed to snap back to reality.

"Please do not tell police! Androids are illegal, you see, I will be incinerated!" She said, with a terrified face. Ruby immediately countered.

"I never said help from outside. _We _can help." Ruby reassured her, pointing to her comrades. Penny sighed, relieved.

"Ok. First know this. My group consist of 3 other robots, all competing in the tournament, and all guarding Creator 24/7, never taking their eye off him. This was told to me by Carl, so don't take my word for it; he glitches sometimes. But one major problem is that if we defeat the three guarding him, the Creator is willing to tell someone." Penny told. Weiss stepped in.

"Not if we stop him!" she said uncharacteristically confident. Penny smiled. "I do not know where he may be. But here is one thing: people are willing to notice the disappearance of four people; we must turn him in, telling the police he aided in the creation of androids for use in the tournament, and showing them the other androids. I am afraid he may tell the police of me, though…" she shakily said.

Blake comforted and reassured Penny, with a caring look on her face. "Look, the police won't and can't destroy an android with feelings. Okay?" Penny smiled, and nodded. Yang still seemed confused.

"Penny…. You speak of 'showing the other androids' as if we will kill them and drag their corpses to the station… Is that what we will be doing…?" Yang asked nervously. Penny reassured her.

"You must distract the androids, while I look for a possible switch to turn them off. I have one, but it is very well hidden; behind my ear. It will take some time, but we can do it." Penny said, smiling. There they were, all of them, discussing how to save Vale from a tyrant. A bunch of teenagers, thought Ruby, smiling. As she thought those beautiful thoughts, a suggestion flashed in her mind. "Penny, perhaps we need more firepower, if we're going to fight these androids… I believe I know someone who can assist. How about team JNPR?"


	5. Chapter 5: Team JNPR

Team JNPR

Penny had just left the school, and Team RWBY and its members were heading back into the school, to ask Team JNPR for its participation in the stopping of Creator.

Weiss smirked. "I called it. I told you she was a robot." She said mockingly.

Blake, in turn, also argued she had guessed it. "_I _said she would be part of some organization, did I not? And I was right." She said, putting her hand up to give Weiss a high five.

"Whatever…" Ruby grudgingly moaned, walking up a flight of stairs to the corridor where Team RWBY and JNPR resided. Gracefully walking up to the door, Yang knocked. From the other side came one cheery voice.

"I GOT IT!" Nora screamed. The doorknob slowly rotated, and the door creaked open a smidge, just enough for Nora to see through. "Are you… _spying on us?" _Nora asked. Yang shook her head. Nora didn't seem too convinced, but all the more she opened the door, with a very suspicious look on her face. Inside, Ren had papers scrawled over a desk, studying silently, while Juane and Pyrrha played a game of checkers. Nora called to them, "Team RWBY is here!" And when no one seemed to pay attention, she flipped.

"GET _UP_, WE HAVE GUESTS!" She yelled at her teammates. They quickly cocked their heads just enough to see their guests.

Pyrrha greeted them with pleasure, flashing a smile, whilst Ren merely stared, and Juane greeted Weiss in particular, calling her 'his snow angel.' Weiss did not seem to hear it. Ruby, stepping in front of Yang, told them what had happened outside, with Penny being an android. She left no detail out, telling them absolutely everything, even the fight.

Nora, of course, asked, "Who the heck is _Penny?" _Ruby shrugged her off. "It doesn't matter who she is, we need to help!" she exclaimed. Nora flushed. "Sheesh, Okay." Pyrrha seemed to agree with the plan. "I'll do it, sure." Ruby seemed content. "Good." She said. "Hey, why don't you stay here a bit?" suggested Nora. All of the girls nodded, but Weiss.

"Oh goodness…" She muttered under her breath. They walked into the furiously decorated room. One side was pink and hearts, clad with posters of hammer models, another plain, with only one decoration: a withering flower. One could easily differentiate whose side belonged to whom.

"What about Jaune and Pyrrha?" Yang asked. Pyrrha laughed. "We sleep in that room." She said, pointing to a door aside from her. All of a sudden Yang's eyes turned a reddish shade, she was furious.

"YOU HAVE _**TWO**_ ROOMS?! WE," Yang said, gesturing toward the group, "HAVE TO _**SHARE!"**_ Yang screamed. Ruby urged her to calm down. "So what are we gonna do?" asked Ruby. Nora jumped up in excitement at this question.

"Let's _**spar!**_" She yelled out. Cheers of agreement rung out. Everyone seemed excited to test the other's skill. "But where? It's not like we have open space." asked none other than grumpy old Weiss.

"We'll find one, Weiss." Said Blake. And so an argument over where to spar sprung up.

"The forest!" "

The roof!"

"The practice field!"

After a couple minutes of arguing, they all finally decided to have a go on the practice field. It was small, but still allowed for room for a two team fight. All agreeing on the field, they had started to walk out the door. The troop walked down the flight of stairs, into the main corridor, and out the door leading to the practice fields. One team occupied the first field, practicing hits on one another, but there were more spots. Team RWBY and Team JNPR walked to the next field, and took their respective sides.

"Ok," said Pyrrha, "Make a plan, and when you're ready, call out, okay?" Ruby nodded. She then turned to face her team. "I think we've got this in the bag. All we need is to eliminate Jaune; which, no offense to him, should be very easy. Then it will be four on three. Who will take Jaune out, then?"

Yang reluctantly volunteered.

"Okay, Yang, deal with Jaune, then help the nearest person with their opponent. I'll get Pyrrha, Blake, get Ren, and Weiss, handle Nora. Sounds good?"

Surprisingly, everyone was happy with their their partnering. Ruby called out to the other team.

"We're ready!" She exclaimed.

Pyrrha took the forefront. "Once your aura drips into red, call yourself out."

Team RWBY nodded, and took their positions in front of their opponents, Yang face to face with Jaune, Ruby facing off with Pyrrha, Weiss with Nora, and Blake with Ren. "Ready," called Pyrrha, "Set…. GO!" Ruby immediately took the lead in front of everybody with unimaginable speed. She stopped short of Pyrrha and took a swing at her with Crescent Rose, only to be foiled by her opponent's shield. Ruby took another swing, this time feinted to the right to fool Pyrrha. She was no fool though; she blocked the swing in one swift, effortless motion. Pyrrha was on the defensive, poised to block another swing. Ruby took a little time to think. She can attempt to break her defense, but that runs the risk of being blocked, for Ruby did not know just how far Pyrrha's skill stretched. Her opponent was obviously a worthy one. Ruby, in one swift move, spun wildy in a circle towards Pyrrha, holding out her scythe, but Pyrrha merely shrugged off the attack with one movement of her shield. With this, Ruby's sides were left wide open. Pyrrha took the chance and struck Ruby, knocking her off her feet, sending her plummeting into the grass. Getting up slowly, Ruby checked her scroll. That blow had taken quite a fair amount of aura, but that wouldn't discourage her. In fact, this encouraged her.

She charged towards Pyrrha, and just as she poised for defense, Ruby flipped over her, and landed behind her. Pyrrha attempted to turn around, but was met with a scythe to the shoulder. A hit for a hit, thought Ruby. She smiled. As Pyrrha was getting a breather, Ruby took time to look around the field. Why had it taken so long for Yang to beat up Jaune? She asked herself, looking at the two duking it out. But before Ruby could see any of her other comrades, she saw Pyrrha getting ready to strike. Ruby got into position, and began to think of a strategy. Obviously, the shield was Pyrrha's strength. If Ruby could get that out of the way, she could easily defeat Pyrrha. She decided to shoot at Pyrrha, causing her to block the bullets, leaving one side open. Turning the scythe around, Ruby aimed her shot right toward Pyrrha's liver. The plan worked, and Pyrrha, distracted by the bullet, left one side wide open. With the speed of lightning, Ruby struck Pyrrha with such ferocity that it knocked the wind out of her. Ruby was fairly proud of herself. But as she saw the look of determination on Pyrrha's face as she got up from the floor, Ruby regretted hitting her so hard. With impossible agility, Pyrrha dashed towards Ruby. Without having any time to react, Ruby clumsily held Crescent Rose up in a defensive position, but it was to no avail. Pyrrha flipped clean over Ruby. Before Ruby could even turn her head, Pyrrha kicked Ruby, leaving her wide open for strikes. Her opponent proceeded to then strike her twice. The most embarrassing part, for Ruby, was when Pyrrha said, "I'm sorry…." Ruby, red in the face, not even referring to her scroll, left the practice field.

After those hits, her aura was definitely down in the red. Humiliated, Ruby sat in the grass to spectate. Pyrrha had joined Yang, who apparently still was fighting Jaune. 'This is a mess!' thought Ruby, looking at her team. She merely sighed, and continued to watch.

_*In the next chapters I will go into detail how the other fights went._


	6. Chapter 6: Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast

*_Finally, a chapter of complete action!_

Weiss took her stance, facing her opponent, the unpredictable Nora. Nora had an ear to ear smile, whilst Weiss had a determined one. Two polar opposites, thought Weiss. Discipline vs. Unpredictability. Although Nora was immature and childish, Weiss knew she would be a worthy opponent. Before Weiss could think any further, interrupting her was Pyrrha's voice.

"Ready," Pyrrha said. Weiss straightened her stance, preparing to strike.

"Set…" Called Pyrrha. At this, Weiss could see Nora preparing her hammer.

"GO!"

Weiss's first move was to run towards Nora, then only inches away from her, used a glyph to propel her skyward. Nora, her smile unflinching, knocked her right out of the sky with a grenade to the stomach. As she came plummeting to the ground, she couldn't help but call out. "Damn!" Yelled Weiss, her plan foiled. She obviously would not get to Nora's unprotected side all too easily… Before Weiss could say anything more, a hail of grenades hurtled towards her. With barely half a second, Weiss quickly rolled out the way and into safety.

"You are much better than her! Come on! _Think!" _Weiss said, switching Myrtenaster to the red setting. With amazing quickness, Weiss used the rapier to send a hail of fireballs towards Nora. Nora rolled out of the way, but proved not to be quick enough when one of the fireballs hit her square in the chest. Nora seemed not to even have noticed, and got up with an even bigger smile on her face. "Does she think this is a _game?"_ Weiss thought, furious at her opponent. Weiss switched Myrtenaster back to the white setting, and decided to try defense until she can get a strike in. Nora, realizing her opportunity to strike had come, dashed towards Weiss. Before contact could be made, Weiss quickly placed a glyph under herself and flipped clean over Nora. Getting back into stance, Weiss prepared to strike Nora while she clumsily stood up after the failure. Setting her sword straight out if front of her, Weiss placed a glyph under her foot, propelling herself towards Nora. Nora, realizing she was wide open for attack, turned around. She took her hammer, and with great strength, plunged it into the ground. Weiss lost her footing as the ground beneath her flipped upwards, sending her flying through the air. As she landed, Weiss got a face-full of grass.

Before even having time to react, Nora had crept up behind and raised her hammer over her head. Weiss, realizing this blow would take her out the match, quickly rolled to the side, out of danger. She used a glyph to prop herself up again. Weiss circled Nora, contemplating what she could do. "_Come on," _thought Weiss, _"You are a Schnee!" _

This seemed inspiration enough. Weiss switched Myrtenaster to the blue setting, and with one swift swipe, sent a wall of ice towards Nora. Nora moved out of the way, but her foot still was caught in a ball of ice. With a worried expression on her face, she started to chip away at the ice. Before she could break free, Weiss had already begun to charge, striking Nora two times before backing away. Soon after, Nora broke from the ice, and with fire in her eyes, charged, hammer first, towards Weiss.

Weiss did not have time to react, and received a hard-hitting blow to the side. She was knocked clean off her feet, and was sent flying through the air. As she landed, she referred to her scroll. She was very close to red. That did not matter. Commitment was a major component to being successful. With anger in her blood, Weiss set Myrtenaster to red and once again sent fireballs towards Nora. This time, Nora was ready. She flipped and rolled gracefully around every fireball. This made Weiss's anger rise. With adrenaline pushing her further, she got into stance, switched Myrtenaster to white, placed a glyph below her, and launched upwards. As planned, Nora fired a grenade towards Weiss. She was ready this time; and used a defensive glyph to deflect the grenade back to Nora. Her eyes widening, Nora tried rolling out of the way. She took a minor part of the blast, as the whole explosion did not end up hitting her. Sliding across the field, Nora prepared for another hit. Weiss would give it to her, using yet another glyph to propel herself towards Nora.

Weiss slashed at Nora, but proved too slow for the wild girl; for she quickly dodged the attack. Weiss, worried for her aura, retreated, knowing better than to stay there. Switching Myrtenaster to the yellow setting, Weiss felt a rush of strength through her body. She was now faster and stronger, as this was the effect of the yellow setting. With enhanced agility, Weiss ran towards Nora. In a flurry of strikes, Weiss attacked Nora, only to be foiled by her hammer. "_How is she doing this? These attacks are much too fast for her to block…" _Thought Weiss, once again backing from her attack. Lost in her thoughts, Weiss did not notice Nora preparing for attack. Last moment, Weiss clumsily held up a defensive position and parried Nora's hammer strike.

"_This is taking ages!" _Thought Weiss. _"Yang should have finished Juane and helped me by now!" _she thought, looking at her teammate duking it out with Juane. Weiss turned back to face her opponent, who had backed off. Weiss got into stance, her rapier guiding her, and using a glyph, propelled towards Nora. Nora would obviously block this, so Weiss decided to mix it up, and placed yet another glyph under her foot, jetting herself upwards. Quickly switching Myrtenaster from yellow to red in mid-air, she fired a hail of fireballs at Nora, distracting her. Nora used her hammer to block the oncoming fireballs, leaving her open. As Weiss landed, she looked at all the wide open areas she could strike. Weiss switched Myrtenaster back to yellow, to ensure Nora's defeat, and with unimaginable speed sliced at Nora's legs and back. Nora screamed in pain, and looking at her scroll, realized her defeat. She looked disappointed, but still held out a hand for Weiss to shake.

"Good job." Said Nora.

"Thanks," Weiss had to push this out of her mouth. "You… you too."

They shook hands, and Nora went off to sit next to the defeated Ruby. Wait…. _Ruby? _"_Well, Weiss, what did you expect? She was fighting a national champion…" _She thought to herself. As she looked around the field, Blake and Ren were exchanging hits, and Yang was fighting Juane _and _Pyrrha.

"_Prove yourself, Weiss, you can do it." _Weiss thought, dashing towards the two on one match.


	7. Chapter 7: The Tart and The Scraggly One

The Tart and The Scraggly One

*_Thanks guys, for all the views. I would like to credit **AnimeGirl 144 **for helping me get such consistent views for every chapter, she really helped me improve my writing, therefore helping me entice readers. Go check out her stories, she has a lot of good content. (I mean **a lot. **As in 100 stories. For your enjoyment.)_

Yang was not too happy with her partner, Jaune, in the fight. To Yang, she felt it would be boring since Jaune wasn't the most skilled of their group of eight.

"I'll beat the crap out of him in a minute…." She thought cockily.

She looked at her opponent, talking to Pyrrha. Every now and then he snuck a nervous look at Yang, as if anticipating his demise. Yang couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"He knows he's screwed!" She thought jokingly.

Pyrrha finished talking to Jaune, and took her position in front of Ruby. Yang prepared her stance, readying Ember Celica for the fight. Yang thought of going easy on Jaune, but decided not to; it could compromise the victory of her team, and she didn't want that.

"Ready," Called out Pyrrha, interrupting Yang's thoughts.

"Set," Said Pyrrha's voice. Yang straightened her stance, rolled her balls into fists, and looked into her opponent's eyes. His stance was clumsy and without form.

"GO!" Yang calmly ran towards Jaune. He prepared to block. With the ferocity of a dragon, Yang fake pumped her left arm, leading Jaune to block a hit that would never come. This left himself wide open for a strike. Yang took her chance and fired Ember into Jaune's sides. With a fiery explosion, Jaune flew to the side and into the dirt. He quickly got up and wiped the dirt off himself, but before anything else could be done, he saw Yang speeding towards him. Yang attempted a hook strike, but was, to her and Jaune's surprise, blocked. Jaune looked at his shield, as if he meant to block the punch, but did not expect for his shield to do much. With newfound courage, Jaune took his chances and swung at Yang. Yang blocked the swing effortlessly, and proceeded to kick Jaune to the ground. Jaune, struck to his knees, was punched square in the face, with yet another fiery explosion. Jaune, recovering from the strike, felt a tug on his collar, as he was lifted off his feet. Yang's eyes were a deep red; she was absolutely furious that Jaune had been able to block her once again. Jaune's heart, seeing the expression on her face, sunk. It was worse than he thought! Yang threw him halfway across the field, almost knocking him into Blake. As she _walked _towards him, with confidence and rage in every step, Jaune got up, preparing to get a strike in.

Preparing his shield, Jaune bravely stood his ground. Without warning, Yang dashed toward Jaune, fists ready. Jaune used his shield to block her right hand, and with unbelievable quickness, used his sword's flat side to parry the strike. Amazed with himself, he bashed Yang with his shield, knocking her back. Yang stood up slowly, the fire in her eyes burning more than ever. She screamed, charging towards Jaune, her fists raised up again. This time, Jaune, paralyzed with fear, did nothing but stand there. He took three hits, the final one being a devastating uppercut to the chin. Poor Jaune was sent feet into the air, sailing through the skies like a deformed, majestic bird. Landing on the ground with a thud, he got up, knowing better than to lay stationary on the ground.

"How can he still be up?" thought Yang, angering herself more. She had tired herself beating the crap out of him, and stopped to take a breather. For some reason, she was angrier than she ever was that she could not defeat Jaune. His aura was very tough; he could obviously take a lot of hits. Yang, anger renewed, taunted Jaune. "Come at me, come on!" She yelled at him. Jaune happily complied, sword raised, running towards Yang like a warrior heading into a battle. He knew his loss was inevitable, but still tried, merely to impress Pyrrha, who he had become rather fond with of late. He swung, but made no contact; Yang dodged the strike. She attempted a strike, only to be met with Jaune's scathed shield. The two were at a deadlock, the both of them waiting for the other to strike. Yang, fed up with waiting, punched Jaune right in the stomach. He was not fast enough, and was knocked back. He had the breath knocked out of him, and was wheezing like a helpless old man. Looking up, he was immediately met with Yang's fists. His face engulfed in an explosion, and he was flying to the ground like a ragdoll. He took a chance, and looked at his aura. He was a bit close to red, but not dangerously so. If Pyrrha had not unlocked his aura for him, he would probably be dead. Readying his sword, Jaune looked Yang straight in the eye. When Yang began to charge at Jaune, he was ready. He feinted to the side, dodging Yang's punch, and facing her from the side, struck her legs, knocking her down. He dared to slash at his opponent a second time, this time hitting her arm. Afraid to be demolished, Jaune retreated. "I cannot take this…." Yang thought, just before being blown to the ground.

"_What was that?" _she asked no one in particular, looking around. Finally laying her eyes on Pyrrha, she realized she must've defeated Ruby and moved on to attack her. Close to crying, Yang realized her demise. At least Pyrrha must've been down at least a bit on aura. Deciding to focus on Jaune, Yang dodged Pyrrha's attempt to attack. Yang dashed toward Jaune, and gave him a nasty uppercut. As he landed on the ground, a glyph formed under him. He was launched into the air, landing with a loud thud. "_WEISS!" _Yang thought, excited and thankful.. Jaune's aura was now down in the red, and with his head down, walked off the field. Yang cheered. "Finally!" she yelled, signaling for Weiss to come by her side. "Ok, Weiss, we can do this, right?" Yang asked. Weiss nodded. "I'll be out soon, though….Soon it'll just be you and Blake." Weiss said, pointing at Blake. Yang did not mind; as long as she had help, she would be fine. "She's low on aura, so this'll be easy." Yang responded, as she and Weiss began to charge towards poor Pyrrha.


	8. Chapter 8: Equinox

Equinox

_This chapter includes the end of Pyrrha and Yang's fight, as well as Blake and Ren's. I had to do some research on Blake, her weapon is confusing._

Pyrrha, unflinching, turned to face her two opponents. On the inside, she was certainly nervous. On the outside, she showed no sign of fear, preparing to block anyone who dared come near her. Yang and Weiss saw she was not poised for attack, and charged. Slowing down, Yang motioned for Weiss to place a glyph under Pyrrha. Pyrrha, seeing this gesture, rolled into safety just as a glyph materialized under her feet. Getting back into stance, she prepared to block Yang. With fire in her eyes, Yang swung at Pyrrha, but, unsurprisingly, was foiled by that accursed shield. Pyrrha , seeing her chance, bashed Yang with her shield, then proceeded to slash at her, hitting her twice. Yang, angered once again, signaled for Weiss to help her out. Weiss happily complied, knowing any chance to prove herself was one to take. Switching Myrtenaster to the red setting, she conjured a hail of fireballs around her, and with one downward swipe of her sword, shot them all at Pyrrha. Pyrrha rolled out of the way, every fireball missing her. She needed a bit of time to recover from the roll, and before she knew it, Weiss was right up in her face. With fire in her blood, Weiss swiped at Pyrrha, striking her to the side of the head. Weiss attempted another strike, getting cocky, but was foiled by Pyrrha's shield. The two backed off from each other. Pyrrha, remembering her training, attempted to line up her enemies. She must have eyes on both her targets. She moved side to side, finally getting Yang and Weiss to get at least a little closer. Pyrrha was not going to lose without a fight. She threw her shield into the unknowing group, hitting Yang in the arm and Weiss in the stomach. Weiss was knocked back from the force of the attack. She looked down at her scroll.

"_Shit."_

She was in the red.

_I will not give up until Pyrrha is defeated._

A bruise started to swell where she was struck. She was definitely in the red. She motioned Yang to charge at Pyrrha. Yang took the order and, fist raised in the air, ran towards Pyrrha. Her first punch landed on Pyrrha's shield, but the blast proved too much; Pyrrha was knocked back. Seeing her defenseless opponent, Yang picked Pyrrha up to her feet, only to send her back to the ground with a carefully placed hook. Pyrrha uncharacteristically became annoyed. She got up into her stance, and charged towards Yang, shield raised.

"_I pissed her off!"  
><em>Yang as immediately bashed to the ground. Holding her sword over her head, Pyrrha prepared for the finishing blow. Weiss, attempting to save her opponent, placed a glyph under Pyrrha. Mid-swing, Pyrrha launched into the air. With a bit of skill and mostly sheer luck, Pyrrha was able to land on her feet. Weiss looked to the side. Yang was slowly limping off the field. It was just her and Pyrrha.

"_She's gonna kill me! I should've gotten out while I could!" _thought Weiss, realizing her mistake.

She would not let this weaken her. She would keep on fighting. Just like her father had told her. Weiss slowly and dramatically changed Myrtenaster to the blue setting. If she was to beat Pyrrha, she must first incapacitate her. With suddenness, Weiss fired a jet of ice at Pyrrha.

Pyrrha, not noticing it immediately, was frozen. Weiss, very princess-like, flaunted towards Pyrrha. She reached the block of ice Pyrrha was stuck in. Pyrrha was not resisting. "Good job." She simply said.

"_She…. She's acknowledging her loss!" _Thought Weiss.

"I'll help you out of the ice." Weiss said, realizing that Pyrrha merely accepted her defeat. Weiss, looking at Blake and Ren fight, decided not to intervene. "Let Blake fight him." She said, helping Pyrrha off the field. This would make for an interesting fight.

* * *

><p><em>15 minutes earlier<em>

"_This'll be interesting." _Thought Blake, looking at her opponent. She had only seen him fight during initiation, so she didn't know what to expect. "_He looks pretty cool," _she said to herself, eyeing the boy. She was interrupted by Pyrrha.

"Ready…" Blake prepared Gambol Shroud, placing her hand on the katana portion of the blade.

"Set…" Blake looked at her opponent as he readied his weapon, StormFlower. She knew a great fight was about to happen.

"GO!" Blake unsheathed her katana, and with her free hand, took the sheathe and wielded it. Ren looked flustered at this, and intimidated. Her sheathe was also a sword? The two modest fighters circled each other, whilst everyone else engaged in combat. Deciding the best strategy was to attack from afar, Blake used her ribbon to pull Ren from his stance. Her plan failed when Ren merely used his bare hands to slap aside the hook. Blake, admittedly surprised, pulled back the ribbon. Ren, after the parry, took StormFlower and shot at Blake. Blake rolled out of the way, but was grazed on her arm by one of the bullets. It was near harmless, it felt as if a breeze had merely touched her. His blades were probably what was to be worried about. Blake decided to attack. If she was to beat him, she must engage. Running towards him with blades in both hands, she prepared to strike. Jumping up in the air only feet away from him, she raised both blades over her head. With great strength, she plunged the blades into the ground. _Wait…the ground?_ Realizing her failure, Blake clumsily pulled her sword from the ground and looked around. She found him, standing with his hands on his hips, mocking her. She was admittedly mad about this. She turned visibly red. Ren, seeing this, saw he was being quite an asshole. He got into proper stance. Blake, now feeling a little more confident, used her hook to pull herself closer to Ren, and landing inches away from him, kicked him to the ground. Before Blake could actually take action and hit him, he was already up. He was certainly fast, and had quick reaction time. Blake backed off, knowing he would try for an attack. He certainly did. Running towards Blake, guns up, he fired a hail of bullets towards her, distracting her swords from proper stance into a clumsy attempt to block the bullets. Inches, away from her, Ren slashed at her with the blade end of his SMG. It cut her across the cheek. Attempting for retaliation, she slashed at Ren, but was unsuccessful as he dodged the swipes. Anger blinding her, she sprinted towards Ren, and without even coordinating her strikes, hacked away. Ren was, once again, able to dodge the majority of the hits, except for one. Realizing her foolishness, Blake backed off and simmered down.

_Do not become the rage-fueled girl from days of old._

_I cannot._

She held back tears as she thought this. It was quite gut-wrenching. Shaking her head, she got back into the fight. Circling Ren like a vulture circling prey, she looked for a way to fool Ren. She decided the best way to break his defense was to pull him from his proper stance using her ribbon. That would be equally as hard, but it was worth a try. Blake, finally decided on a strategy, lashed her ribbon out at Ren, unsurprisingly blocked. She was simply testing the waters. Attempting to deceive Ren, she ran towards him, then, a little distance away from him, jumped upwards. This caught Ren off guard, and before he knew, he was pulled right under Blake. She landed on him, knocking him face first into the ground. She quickly struck him three times in the back, before back flipping into safety. The strategy was so beautifully carried out, that even modest Blake could not help but feel proud of herself. Ren, although impressed, stood up with his pride diminished.

_I've never been thrown around like that._

Even when fighting a King Taijitu, he was never humiliated like this. But he had to admit, it was quite an impressive move. He fired a hail of bullets at Blake in retaliation. Most, if not all, hit her. This seemed to do some damage, even though she had previously said they did nothing.

"_That actually hurt…" _She thought, looking down at her healing wounds. That was no matter. She had an aura, she should take advantage of it… She propped herself up, and wiping the dust off herself, looked up. She was met with Ren running towards her. Quickly reacting, she rolled to the side, while Ren dashed to the spot Blake used to be. Blake, contemplating whether she should attack, decided not to. Her stance was not in the best position. It would leave her open. She backed off, and allowed Ren to get up. As soon as she got into proper stance though, she did not spare him. She ran towards her recovering opponent, readying her sword. Using the recoil of her sword to boost the speed and strength of her hit, she sunk her sword straight into Ren's hand. But something was wrong… He literally just blocked her attack with his hand! Blake took a second look, and saw a pulsating purple light emitting from his hands. He had used a temporary shield to block the strike. Blake, very disappointed, walked away.

"_That would have been a devastating hit!" _She thought.

He pulled his SMGs out of his sleeves, preparing to attack. He began to sprint towards Blake. To Blake's surprise, he flipped into the air and when he landed, used his aura to increase the impact of his fall. Blake was blown back by this, literally. She was knocked off her feet and into the air. She needed help with Ren. Looking around, she realized she would get none. Weiss was just walking out with Pyrrha. The outcome of this battle would decide the winner. Looking at her fallen teammates, she was given courage by thumbs up from Ruby, Yang, and even Weiss. With a new reason to win this fight, she charged towards Ren. Using sheer speed, she feinted to the right, fooled Ren, then slashed at his chest not once, but _three _times. Back flipping away, she dared look at her scroll. She was almost into red. Surely after that hit, Ren was closer than she was. Confidence renewed, she stood her ground. She would wait for Ren to attack. He would, attempting to fire his SMGs, only to realize the clip had run out. He had already began to sprint towards Blake, so he was forcedto stop dead in his tracks. Blake,seeing his vulnerability, ran over to him. She swiped with her katana, but was foiled when he used the gun's blade to parry the attack. He then attempted to stab Blake, but Blake quickly sidestepped. Using her training, she flipped into the air, and upon landing, struck her opponent. She made no contact, Ren had used the last of his spare aura to block the hit. Blake realized the victory was in her hands, she need only one hit to knock Ren out of the game. She would do it in style. She sprinted towards Ren, and from a sizable distance away from him, cart wheeled. The cart wheel ended in a kick in the face for Ren, who was unable to block the fashionable strike. It was over! Cheering from the side came, and Blake and Ren shook hands.

"Great job." Said a humiliated Ren. Only one person was ever able to beat him.

"You too! That was quite a good match." Blake replied, quite happy.

Ruby yelled at the two from the sideline. "Hey, good job you too, but we don't have much time 'till curfew! We should discuss the thing about Penny!"

Blake and Ren nodded, and walked back to where Ruby stood.

* * *

><p>They had went back to the JNPR dorm. Pyrrha was speaking.<p>

"Look, we should help out, but to help we need to know where this guy might be."

Yang agreed. "She can hack Carl into trying to decode where the Creator is." She said.

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, but the only thing is that Carl could tell the Creator she is trying to find out where he is, and that would not be very good…" She said.

"Guys…. It's past curfew. You should get to your dorms." Jaune said.

"We'll talk more of it tomorrow." Ruby said, leaving the dorm with Team RWBY.

_*Next chapter will be told from Penny's perspective, and will be completely (or mostly) centered on her life (short as it was.)_


	9. Chapter 9: Memories

Memories

_*Out of the action, and into the story!_

_ "That won't be good." Said the tall man, looking down at his creation. He failed to do the procedure correctly. This android would have emotions._

Penny woke from her nightmare. Every now and then, she always had nightmares. Her hardware burdened her with infinite memory.

"_Vlad, no. You will not destroy this one. I believe she won't turn."_

A knocking was heard on her door.

"Carl? What is it?" Penny asked, her voice weakened from a bad night's sleep.

"A message from The Creator," said Carl, opening the door to her room. "It is another order."

Penny sighed. "Go ahead."

Carl proceeded to give out the order. "I decree that you are now forbidden to go outside. You must remain within the household, you will not interact with humans. You will now practice 4 hours a week."

Penny laughed. "Override order."

Nothing happened to Carl.

"Carl? Override Order!" Penny exclaimed getting worried.

Carl responded. "Order overrided."

_The man with a mask concealing his face spoke. "If you attempt to disobey my orders, I will destroy you with this," the man said, pointing to a button. "It is a destruct button. Do not dare defy me. Your surveillance unit will report to me regularly. If he does not report to me, this button will be pressed with no mercy. The only reason I kept you alive," said the man, "Is because I saw your potential. You could win the tournament if the others fail to do so. Keep that in mind." He walked from the room, leaving the terrified girl to her thoughts._

"Thank you, Carl." Penny said, grateful that Carl had responded.

Carl left the room, leaving Penny to herself.

_Beside Penny lies a huge, burly man. "H-hello?" Her weak voice called. He turned his head slowly. He merely stared at her, then turned back around. _

"_Where am I?" Not turning around, a deep voice came from his mouth. _

"_Hell." _

Penny got up, she needed to see what was wrong with Carl. She opened the door to the living room.

"_Excuse me?" Penny asked, confused. _

_The man laughed. "At least for you, you have emotions." The man stood up from his rest. He was huge, nearly as big as an Ursa. His head touched the ceiling. _

"Carl?" Penny called.

"Yes?"

"I need to see your hardware."

"I cannot allow you to do—" Carl started, but was interrupted.

"Override that command. Code: 2452." Penny said, using a code she herself deciphered using Carl's model and year of creation.

"Command… overrided." Carl said, rebooting himself.

A little panel on his back split, showing wires and circuits that not even the most tech-savvy person would be able to understand.  
>But Penny could.<p>

_Ember looked at her. "I'm not supposed to be talking to you." She said, turning her head away from Penny. _

"_You have very pretty hair, friend." Penny said, pointing at her dark green hair. _

_Ember turned around. _

"_Thank you, but don't call me friend." Ember said, losing her nerve and finally leaving the containment room._

With a couple pulling of wires, Carl was back to normal. The Creator was foolish, and had kept Carl under his default state, allowing Penny to do anything she wanted with him.

"Test." Penny said.

"Test completed. All systems well."

Penny smiled. "You're great, Carl, you know that?"

_Penny stood there, looking where Ember had left. She would never have friends. Vlad hated her, Ember would never disobey The Creator, and the other one… Nika, was it? She scared Penny. She was exceptionally tall, dark-skinned, and talented. All she ever did was meditate on her bed all day, even when orders were issued. When the group practiced, she showed boundless talent. That would not matter. In the next week, Penny would move to a separate house. The Creator wanted to speak to his creations face to face, but Penny was a danger, so she would be moving out. He would still keep an eye on her, through a surveillance unit._

Suddenly, Carl froze. "Tape end."

Penny jumped up, and quickly ran to Carl.

"Replay! Replay!" She frantically repeated.

"Tape rewinding…. Tape playing."

Penny had to use a looped tape to make The Creator think she wasn't doing anything. She had made Carl record for 6 months, whilst staying in the house. She then put the tape on repeat. Whenever the Creator would take a look at what Penny was doing, he would only see a repeated tape. The beauty of it was that she synchronized it with the time of day, to add more realism to it. It was unlikely The Creator would catch a loop.

"_Hey…" Penny said, walking towards Nika. She woke from her meditation. "What do you want? Why must you interrupt me, sister?" At this, Penny became excited. _

"_Sister? Did you call me… Sister?" Nika merely shrugged it off. "We are both from the same Creator." Penny felt like crying in joy. _

"_Wow! I really have no one that likes me around here, it's good to know someone recognizes we shouldn't all hate each other!" _

"_Hatred is immature. Vlad and Ember, though, cannot experience hatred. Neither can I. But we can't experience anything else. They are fools, pretending to show emotions. Of course, the Creator made them like that."_

"Automatically loop that tape when it ends, Carl." Penny said, relieved.

"No problem, Penny." He said.

Penny, unable to control herself, laughed uncontrollably. Sometimes it happened, when her emotional output came out wrong, and she would have emotional outbursts.

_"Made them like what?" Penny asked. _

"_The creator needed fools to follow his orders." Nika said._

"_Do you… not like him?" Penny asked, confused._

"_Of course not. He is my creator. I was born unemotional, as I said. Therefore, I cannot take sides. Only orders." _

Penny was unique. She wasn't like androids, or humans. She was one of the only of her kind. An emotion-feeling android. How the Creator accidentally did it, she would never know. She only knew that she had cursed him. She lived in a world she would never fit into.

"_Here, have this." Nika gave Penny a bottle. _

"_It will artificially create an aura for you. It only works for a couple days at a time, so only take sips at a time, when you need it." _

_Penny eyes filled with tears of joy. "Thank you!" _

_Nika gracefully accepted a hug. "I wish I had emotions…." She said, longfully staring at Penny's tears._

She looked at the old, rusted bottle. She only drank a bit when she went outside.

"_I wish I could refill it, it's half empty." _Thought Penny, looking at the bottle.

Without it, she'd probably be dead. You'd be surprised how easily one could get hurt without aura. With one well placed strike, they'd be dead.

"_Hey, friend." Penny said, calling towards Nika. They were at the practice warehouse. It was Penny's last day._

_Nika continued to practice, not acknowledging Penny. _

"_It's my last day."_

_Nike turned around._

"_I may not speak to you. The Creator believes it is not healthy for me to want emotions."_

_Penny opened her mouth, but was stopped when she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Carl. _

"_We need to go, [Subject Name Here]" He said. _

_Penny turned around. "Ok. I hated this place anyway. My name is Penny, by the way." _


	10. Chapter 10: Military Grade Interceptor

Military Grade Interceptor, AKA Carl

_Ring. _

Interrupting Penny's reflection was the doorbell. 

"I got it, Carl!" Penny called out.

Running down the stairs and to the door, she opened it, to find her friends.

"Salutations, friends!" Penny exclaimed, excited to see Team RWBY and… a couple others.

"Who are your friends?" Penny asked, pointing towards the rest of the group.

"I'm Nora!" Said the red-haired one with an adventurous tone.

"I'm Pyrrha." Said the other redhead, adding a pleasant smile to her sentence.

"I'm Jaune." The blonde one told her, with an awkward but confident wave.

"My name is Ren." The dark-haired one told her, with no expression.

Penny smiled. "I'm Penny. Nice to meet you all!"

Ruby interrupted. "I'm sorry Penny, but we don't have much time. If we are to help you, we will need you to do… something." Ruby said, careful to make sure no one had heard her. 

"Come in. We can discuss and have tea!" Penny said, welcoming the group into her house.

"Carl, we have guests." She said.

"You are forbidden!" Came a suddenly hostile voice in the kitchen.

"Initiate Protocol 7. Code: 6785." Penny said. Carl became silent.

"We can work peacefully," Penny assured them. "Sit down, tell me what your plan of action is."

Yang looked hesitant. "Can't…" She started.

She leaned in closer to Penny, so Carl wouldn't hear. "_Can't he hear us?" _

Penny shook her head. "No, of course not! He only records on my order. Like I said, he is hacked."

Ruby nodded. "That's what we're here for. We need to know if you can possibly do something with him that will allow us to track The Creator." She said.

"Yes, of course. It will take a while, and if I fail you will have to leave immediately. I never tried; if I fail Carl will reboot and have his old capabilities, but this time unhackable. It's kind of like his model's alarm system." Penny said.

'That's fine. Let's get this started." Said a disgruntled Weiss. She did not want to be here, as cruel as it sounded. They were ditching precious studying time.

"Okay, we'll start in a bit. I just need to get my tools." Penny told them, walking out the living room.

"She's kind of awkward." Jaune said, watching her leave.

Pyrrha told him off. "We're trying to help her, Jaune, be quiet!"

"Calm down. We're here so she can get the help she needs." Said Ren, shushing the two.

Ruby opened her mouth, but before she could speak, a loud clang was heard in the next room.

"Ow… I'm fine!" Came Penny's voice. The door then burst open and Penny stumbled in, carrying a box of countless tools.

Blake curiously raised her eyebrow.

"Is that… a blowtorch?" Blake queried curiously.

Penny laughed. "Of course, silly!" She jokingly said. 

"Carl! I need to see you!" Penny called. Carl came bustling in.

"What is it, Penny?" He said, completely ignoring the guests.

"Open panel 13, 14, and 17." Penny said calmly. Carl stopped dead in his tracks, and his chest, back, and head opened up to reveal a complicated mix of cables. Penny could not have looked happier.

"I've always wanted to do this! Ruby, friend, grab me some pliers from the toolbox." She said, excited to begin work.

Ruby nodded and walked to the box. She began to fumble in its contents for a bit, before finally pulling out a pair of pliers. Throwing it to Penny, she said, "Here you go."

Pliers now in hand, Penny began work on Carl. She started at his open chest, pulling cables out as if they were nothing.

"If we want to triangulate a where an anonymous transmission is coming from, we will have to take away the anonymous part," she said, holding up a pile of cables. "By eradicating Carl's identification from any transmission. This means all transmission are equal, so no anonymous. Unfortunately any other transmission will not be identifiable, only by signature. I don't get much other transmissions, anyway. It doesn't matter." She said, throwing the cables around like rubbish. "Now , the next step is to place a military-grade interceptor into his hardware. That is also in the box."

"How did you…?" Weiss began.

Penny brushed it off. "I stole it from the warehouse I was made in." She told them.

Weiss nodded, then went to the box. She stared at the contents, utterly confused.

"Uhmmm… How does it…look?" She asked, turning around desperately.

Penny laughed. "It looks like a little ball with red gems every now and then."

Weiss turned back around, and began to look.

She finally found it, sitting at the bottom.

"Be careful with it!" Penny said, worried Weiss would drop it.

Weiss gave her a dirty look and handed it to Penny.

Penny grabbed, and slowly placed it into the empty place where the cables once were. She gave it a little twist, and the gems on the core began to shine.

"He will now be able to track anything from around the world. But it will take him up to say… 2 weeks to calibrate to the new hardware."

Nora immaturely groaned. "It's so much _timeee!" _She was anxious to save the tournament and possibly Vale, and did not want to wait 2 weeks for it.

Pyrrha butted in. "She means to say that will_ happily _wait the allotted time." She said, looking at Nora.

Nora put a childish pouty face expression on her face.

Penny chuckled. "Well, friends, that was much easier than I thought. I will make sure to tell you when Carl is ready. For now, Would you like to stay for some oil? I mean tea. Yeah, tea." She said, laughing at her mistake.

"I forgot humans don't drink oil."

They all laughed, sitting down, and getting comfortable.

But Weiss had just realized something.

"We will only have a week to find him and bring him to justice! The tournament's in _three _ weeks."

Penny shrugged it off. "I gave an estimate to the amount of time it would take. I believe one week is enough preparation. This androids are hardened, but keep in mind this is three on 8." She said.

"Isn't it nine on three?" Yang pointed out.

Penny shook her head. "I cannot attack my brothers and sisters. I was programmed to not engage in conflict. Any damage I do to them will instead be inflicted onto myself. It works vice versa, so they still will not be able to attack me." She said.

"Tell us more about your… siblings, Penny." Ren said.

Penny sighed.

"There is three. Vlad, the only man. He is a burly, huge man. He is nearly as big as an Ursa as far as I can tell. He carries a hammer with spikes on the end of it. With every strike, he shakes the ground; his strength is so great. You must be careful of him. The other two, Ember and Nika, work hand in hand, exchanging strikes on the same target. Nika, in my opinion, is the strongest of the other two, most likely stronger than the two combined. She has a weapon similar to yours," She said pointing to Pyrrha. "She has a sword and shield. She can flip through the air effortlessly. She will protect the Creator closest, and when things get out of hand, will escort the Creator away. She is very tactful, and not repetitive. She will pick up objects and throw them, heed my warning. There's Ember, who uses a dust rapier very similar to yours, Weiss," She said, pointing at Weiss. " She looks small and helpless, but she is nearly as strong as Vlad. She also employs the use of Glyphs. I told you guys, it will not be an easy fight. In my opinion, they Nika alone might be able to take on all of you. They are androids. They _are_ faster than you. They _are _stronger than you. If you show weakness, they _will _destroy you."


	11. Chapter 11: Partners

Partners

The two teams headed back to Beacon after visiting Penny, and were now in their respective dorms. Weiss was talking to Ruby; Blake and Yang had gone out for some food.

"That was… weird. Do you think it's dangerous?" Weiss asked curiously.

"Do I think what is dangerous?" Ruby asked, confused by her question.

"I mean… the androids… They sound like skilled murderers. If they can take on all of us, as Penny says, they can really injure us or even kill us!" Weiss said, a little worried.

"Pssh," Ruby said, waving her hand to dismiss the question. "I don't think they could kill us. It's three on _eight, _Weiss, eight." She simply said.

Weiss was still worried. "I don't know…"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Come one Weiss, cheer up!"

Weiss shook her head. "I'm fine, I'm just kind of worried." She told Ruby.

"Ok, whatever," Ruby said. Then she remembered. "How are you and Blake getting along nowadays?" She asked, eagerly awaiting the answer.

Weiss pouted, thinking. "I don't know, I guess… better. She doesn't think of me as a racist fool anymore. Which I never was."

"Yeah, you never were. _Totally." _Ruby replied sarcastically.

Weiss turned red. "Shut up, you dunce!" She spat.

Ruby laughed. "Glad to know you love me, Weiss." She said jokingly.

"Whatever, can we change the subject?" Weiss said, now annoyed.

"To what?" Ruby asked.

Weiss was hoping Ruby would ask this. "School? Like studying, I mean." She said, wanting to study for a coming test.

Ruby groaned. "Ugh! All you ever do is study! You _never _wanna talk! It's kind of annoying, you know."

"Yeah, like you!" Weiss swiftly replied.

There was a moment of silence.

"Weiss, come on. We're being morons. We're _partners,_we need to work together." Ruby said.

Weiss countered. "Then let's study."

Reluctantly, Ruby said, "Fine…."

Yang and Blake had gone out to fetch some food for the girls. They were walking down the streets of Downtown Vale.

The awkward silence between the two were broken when Yang asked a question.

"Can you hear double? You know, because of the, uhmm…" Being careful no one saw her, Yang casually gestured towards Blake's bow.

Blake laughed. "Yes. My hearing in my 'other' ears is better than the normal ones. That's why I hate wearing this bow so much. I can't hear as well out of my cat ears." She said, pouting at her bow. Yang nodded.

"This might be awkward but… are you obsessed with milk or anything like that?" Yang asked, a hint of doubt in her voice.

Blake thought for a second. "Sometimes I'm in the mood for it. But sometimes I hate it. It's like with yarn… oh! Never mind!" Blake said, beginning to blush.

Yang laughed. "Don't be scared, I don't care if you like yarn or anything! It's not embarrassing." Yang said, still laughing at Blake's embarrassment.

"No, but it is! People will think I'm like half cat!" She said, still red.

Yang raised her eyebrow. "Aren't you?" She ignorantly said.

Blake sighed. "No! I'm not! I'm just somewhat… related to them. That's why I behave like them." She said, blushing more furiously than ever.

Yang, realizing her mistake, apologized. "I'm sorry, Blake! I didn't mean it like-" She started, but was stopped by Blake.

"It's ok. I do have cat ears and a tail, it would only make sense." She said, a little more relaxed than before.

Yang breathed out in relief. "Phew. Sorry, though," She said. She looked up. "Oh! There it is! Didn't even realize." She said, walking into the pizza store.

"What do you want, Blake?"Yang asked, turning to the Faunus.

"Ummm…" Blake turned red again. "I guess… anchovies?" She said, blushing.

Yang laughed. "Don't worry, I'll order it. You stay here." Yang said, walking up to the counter and leaving Blake behind.

" Hellooo, good sir," Yang said, cheerfully greeting the cashier guy. She looked at the menu. "I'll take…. Pepperoni… add some extra cheese… I'll get 2 meats, and an anchovies. Add some cookies to that. And milk." She said, looking back at Blake, who was smiling.

"Is that it?" The cashier guy asked.

Yang nodded, and took a seat to wait for the meal. She signaled Blake to sit with her.

"I got you some milk. It'll be coming." Yang said, happy with her sweet gesture. Blake smiled lightly.

"Thanks." She said, taking a seat.

"What do you think Weiss and Ruby are doing back over there?" Yang asked.

Blake laughed. "I can only imagine. Probably arguing."

Yang laughed along. "_Shut __**UP **__you dunce! Dunce, dunce, dunce, I love studying!" _Yang said mockingly. The two laughed hysterically.

Blake, wiping a tear from her eye, said, "Wow. That's probably what they're doing now."

Yang sighed in exhaustion from laughing. The cashier then interrupted them.

"You're food is ready, ma'am."

Yang got up, and grabbed the pizza and the milk. She handed the milk to Blake, and they left the restaurant.

After a long walk, Yang and Blake finally made it back to Beacon. They knocked on the dorm door, only to be greeted by books and papers all over the floor.

Yang laughed. "You were studying? You guys are such losers. Princess, I expect this from you," She said pointing to Weiss. "But not you, Ruby." She said, disappointed at her sister.

Ruby merely brushed her off. "Test is tomorrow. Here, come on, let's eat the pizza." She said, gesturing for the two to bring over the pizza.

And so the four got on studying all night, much to Yang's resentment.

_*Sorry for such a short chapter, I had orientation for school today, and so I was not able to finish the chapter before the deadline. The outcome is a prematurely ended story. _


	12. Chapter 12: Classes

Classes

_*A thousand views in just over a week! Wow, thank you guys! I'll just leave you with this._

It was Monday morning. The girls had just gotten up from a long night of studying. Ruby sat, perched on her bed, reading the day's schedule to the girls.

"Ok. Ummm.. Let's see… Ah. Ok. Today we have, up first, Social Issues."

Upon hearing this all the girls groaned, except for Weiss.

"Knowing other cultures will help you make better decisions when in battle. You will have the upper hand when you know more of the other culture." She pointed out. Blake laughed mockingly, and under her breath, said, "Hypocrite…" Weiss did not seem to hear.

Ruby, walking out the door, motioned for her teammates to follow. They would not be late, for the first time in a while. They would in fact, be early. Yang took not of this.

Smiling, she said, "Look at Team RWBY, all nice and organized." She seemed genuinely surprised at their early departure.

Weiss laughed. "I know, right? This is _my _type of environment." She said, also content.

And so Team RWBY walked down the halls, everyone still asleep, and into the courtyard. They breathed in the fresh Vale air, and continued on their walk, into the building housing all of the classes. After a short walk down the school halls, they finally reached their destination, welcomed by no one but the teacher.

"Ahhh! Team RWBY? No need for a late pass, then?" Professor Lance said, smiling at the girls. "Take a seat. We will start when the rest of the class arrives."

The girls took their seats. They waited an extremely prolonged time for the rest of the class. Apparently, being early was not as leisurely as they all thought. Ruby sat with her head in her hands, just wanting for the class to start. Yang was flicking a paper football at the back of Blake's head, much to her dismay. Weiss sat attentively, eagerly awaiting the start of class. After waiting nearly 20 minutes, the rest of the class poured in.

Professor Lance stood up from his papers and greeted them.

"Welcome, welcome! Today, students, we will be learning about a very controversial issue." He said, waiting for the class to take their seats. As he got their attention, he began to speak.

"Androids have become a major problem in today's society." He said.

All of Team RWBY raised their heads, eyes widening as Professor Lance said this. Yang ditched her plan of sleeping in class, now giving her full attention. Ruby now sat, head cocked forward, eagerly awaiting the lesson. Blake sat back, interested mildly. Weiss still looked the same as before, attentive and ready to learn.

"Many agree and disagree with the legality of androids. They can prove to be a problem," He said, much to Ruby's annoyance, "But, they can be quite useful." Ruby calmed down as he said this.

"On the side saying androids should remain illegal, the main argument is that androids pose a danger. People saying legalize androids argue that they can be used for labor and even enforcement of laws, if under the right hands. This comes with some complications. Many androids are owned illegal, therefore cannot be trained properly. These unemotional beings have no mercy. Without training they will ruthlessly kill dozens of people, depending on the android level." He said, looking around at all the confused faces. Lance sighed.

"Androids are graded based on levels of combat proficiency, 1 being the lowest, simply working androids, and 20 being war machines. The legality of androids is based on level. The only currently legal androids are level 1 androids. But there is a new law that has been imposed, saying that androids with emotions should be legal. The Mayor of Vale has determined that only emotion-capable androids level 8 and below will be legal. This is due to the fact that when an android has a power level over 9, their operating system simply cannot take that amount of stress, when they have power but are not able to use it. Androids over level 9, when not presented with any combat in their life, will have outburst of violence, where their system quite literally overflows with power." Professor Lance further explained.

Ruby raised her hand curiously. "Professor Lance, why are level 2-20 unemotional androids illegal?" She asked.

Professor Lance nodded. "Good question. It is because they are unemotional, basically. They cannot experience love, hate. Or mercy. It has been proven they can only experience a feeling of loyalty. This means criminals can grab hold of dangerous androids and use them to his bidding. Think about it, who would have a level 20 war machine as a pet?" He said. Ruby nodded, now understanding. What the Creator did was use war machines to his bidding. The girls now felt informed.

Professor Lance smiled.

"Now, I will tell you of some examples of androids over the years." He pulled up a slideshow, and flashed through pictures of androids. "Here's Mollie, oh she's my favorite. And here's Turak and Tuco, renowned hitmen, the first police android, Geoff…" And he went on incessantly for quite a while. After a half an hour, Professor Lance got to the final slide.

"Oh, this one's interesting. This one wears a mask and black overalls, no one knows his or her's identity. All that is known is their weapon of choice. They use quite a collection of swords that come from their back. This person uses it's power to impale enemies with the sword." Team RWBY rose their head in alarm.

"It is thought that this is an android whose power is too much for it's operating system. It usually finishes it's job with a laser beam fabricated by the swords's capabilities, then flees the scene." After hearing this, Ruby almost fainted.

"Fortunately, this android has not tasted blood. It has merely wrecked havoc on buildings and such." The girls sighed in relief upon hearing this.

The bell rung, with Professor Lance just finishing the essay. The class was dismissed, and Team RWBY headed to their next class, deciding not to speak of the matter until they were alone.


	13. Chapter 13: Like a House of Cards

Like a House of Cards

The girls had finished all their classes. They were now back at their dorms.

"What should we do?" Asked Ruby, looking at her teammates.

Yang replied, "I'm not sure… I think we should say _something _though, we need to know if she can control this… thing inside her. If she can't she can pose a danger to us and the people around us. What if she bursts while we're around? We're screwed!"

Blake nodded. "We should know this. If she can't control it, we'll have to do something to keep her from hurting anybody."

Ruby sighed. "But how? I don't want to hurt her if that's what you're saying." She said.

Blake shook her head. "No, no, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying we can maybe just watch her and make sure when she bursts we're there to at least subdue her. Even if we get hurt, at least no one else does."

Weiss nodded. "That's brave of you, Blake. We can maybe just set up a couple cameras in her house, you know, check every now and then. I think she'll agree on it. She knows that she is a danger."

Ruby nodded. "Should we go and ask her about it now?" She asked. Everyone shook their head.

"Let's wait until the weekend! We can get into major trouble if we leave right now. Like, major trouble." Yang pointed out.

"Ok, fine." Ruby said, looking disappointed. "Well, what are we going to say? 'We know you can be a murderous and notorious android, so we have to stalk you from now on.' No way. I'm not saying that."

Weiss butted in. "No, we should say that," The girls looked at her, confused. "Of course, a little more subtler. But we can't go around this, we should just tell it to her straight, you know?"

Yang nodded. "It would make her feel uncomfortable if we try to go around it. We should definitely just tell her straight out." Ruby nodded, changing her mind about the approach they were to take.

"Hey, when did Professor Lance said the last time she attacked was?" She asked.

Blake thought for a moment. "He didn't say… as far as I know. Why?"

"I don't know, I just need to know if she is still doing it frequently. If it even is her. It probably is." Ruby replied.

Yang laughed. "Of course it's her! Who else has swords that shoot laser beams? But remember, she's never tasted blood, so she probably has at least a little control over it, like Professor Lance said." She pointed out.

A silence then prevailed. All the girls were deep in their thoughts.

Blake interrupted this moment of silence. "Do you think... do you think the Creator knows about this? That it's her?" she asked.

An air of nervousness suddenly filled the room.

"I don't know… he's probably controlling it, of course with resistance from Penny. If he is, that means…." Weiss began, trailing her sentence.

"What?" Yang asked, confused.

"It means if he finds out about _us _he can come and kill us using Penny and probably do some major damage to the school." She said.

Ruby gritted her teeth, thinking hard. "She can resist though, right? She would be able to resist it this time, no? And how can he ever find out about us?" She asked, giving excuses as to why they were not in danger.

"Yes, she can resist attacking _us, _but remember what Lance said? She usually ends up doing major damage to buildings. She will most likely destroy Beacon and maybe take out some students! Ruby, I hope you know he can find out about us in almost a million ways. We need to be more careful around her." Weiss said, annoyed that she had to explain.

Blake intervened. "Should we tell Team JNPR?" she asked.

Ruby shook her head. "Tomorrow. Not today." She said.

The girls looked at each other. They all now had different opinions on Penny. They now saw a new side of her, one that was dangerous. One that was not like Penny.

"I know that it's her, but there's a possibility it's not. It's not like her… And we never know, this person wears a mask." Ruby said, not wanting her friend to be this terrorist.

Yang groaned. "It's _not _her. It's her system bursting out. Or it could be the Creator. Either way, it isn't herself doing this. It's her body, but not her mind." She said.

Weiss nodded. "We went over this, Ruby! It's not the Penny you know!" She exclaimed.

Ruby shook her head. "I'm sorry. I just… It's just… You know, it can't be Penny. And I know it's not, but still, it's her body. I'm just really confused." She said.

Blake pouted in thought. "I'm with you. This is quite confusing. I don't know… I guess all this information isn't really processing in my head." She confessed.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Look, it's not _her! _It's just… Look, I'm getting tired of explaining this!" Weiss said, a tone of hostility filling her voice.

Blake got up.

"I'm sorry, I just don't understand this, princess! Do you have a problem that I don't know absolutely _everything _like you?!" Blake said, blushing.

Ruby began to worry. "Look guys. Calm down-" she started, but was rudely interrupted.

"I don't know everything! You just know nothing! All I'm saying is that this is easy to understand, you dunce!" Weiss replied, anger rising.

Yang decided to chime in, her pupils dilated and red. "_Shut up! You're all pissing me __**off! **__If you two," _She said, pointing to Weiss and Blake, _"Would stop arguing for one __**damn **__moment, and let me think, perhaps we can get something done here!" _She yelled. This seemed to do the tricks, and the girls sat down.

Ruby looked at the two. Their friendship had just crumbled to the ground once again, like a house of cards. Nothing could ever get done, Yang was certainly right with that.  
>"Ok. We have to calm down. Let's all just get some… rest." Ruby said, walking to the light switch. She turned off the lights.<p> 


	14. Chapter 14: Dreaming

Dreaming

_*Check out the poll on my profile page, it may influence the story!_

_Also, sorry for no chapter yesterday You know how it is, what with me living in the U.S and having the Super Bowl and what not. (Yes, I watch football.)_

It was the next morning after their discussion. Weiss and Blake were already up, yelling their heads off.

"You know what, I can't take the fact that you think that I'm a know-it-all!" Weiss screamed.

Blake retaliated, screaming louder. "Because you are! _Dunce this, dunce that! _Everything is imperfect compared to _you, _in your pretty little mind! You're an insufferable little brat!" she said.

Weiss frowned in anger. "At least I know _something, _not like you! And you know what, you take offense to things _much _too easily." Weiss pointed out. Blake opened her mouth, planning a nasty reply, but was stopped by Ruby.

"Stop fighting, before Yang wakes up!" She said, looking at Yang sleeping. This silenced the girls. If Yang woke up, they would all get an earful.

"Hmmph." Weiss said childlishly.

"Come on, just get changed, we got to get to class in 20 minutes." Ruby said, gesturing for Weiss to be quiet.

The girls all silently got changed, waking Yang when they were finished. "Hey, we got to get going." Blake said, shaking Yang. Yang woke up and got out of her bed slowly. She cracked her neck and went to the wardrobe to get changed. Once they were all ready, they went down for class. Once again, they would be early.

"Hello!" Ruby said, confidently stepping into the Grimm Studies classroom. Professor Port raised his head, greeting her with a smile.

"Why, hello, Team RWBY! Nice to see you early!" He said. Blake rolled her eyes.

"Early again." She said under her breath. They all took a seat in front of Professor Port's desk. Blake took hers rather sloppily, and nearly fell off her chair. She had not gotten a good sleep. She was thinking about the fight. It was not a big fight, but Weiss not hated her, again. Blake thought they could form a good friendship, but then, of course, they had to fight. Blake, deep in her thoughts, fell into a deep sleep.

_Blake stared into Adam's eyes as the cart she was on separated the two. She wanted to say 'I'm sorry' but the words could not come out. She could only manage a squeak as Adam's face turned red. With anger in his step, he turned his back to her and started walking the other way. Blake fell to her knees and began to cry, as she was separated further from her former best friend. Voices began to fill her head. 'You were never good enough, anyway, Blake' these voices said. 'You were worthless, you were a liability!' the voices taunted. Looking up to the sky, Blake realized it had turned a blood red. The trees around her were laughing at her with bloodshot eyes. The orchids sung a soft, slow tune. _

'_From Shadows….' The orchids repeated in unison. Blake looked around in horror. She felt terrified. She felt as if the air around her was closing in on her, trying to crush her. "Adam? Where are you?" She screamed into the empty air. The sky cracked with lightning at these words. "Adam?" She screamed, close to hysteria. A sound of rushing water filled her ears. A nearby tree screamed "Goodbye!" in a deep tone. Blake looked down from the edge of the train. A river of blood had formed under the train. She backed away in fear. The trees around her were waving, a couple pointing to the far end of the train. She looked, and what met her eyes was a huge waterfall, only a couple feet away. She wanted to jump into the water, but the blood scared her. She had nowhere to go. As she thought of an escape route, the train plummeted. _

"Blake!" Someone whispered into her ear. "Blake! Lesson's gonna start! Wake up!"

Blake jolted upright, and looked around. Ruby had woken her. She had a worried face.

"Blake, are you ok? You looked like you were going to cry…" Ruby said, truly worried.

Blake shook her head, as if it would take the dream away. "I-I'm fine," she lied, blinking her eyes, "I just usually talk in my…. In my sleep." She said.

Ruby pouted. "Ok…" she said, not convinced. Just then the rest of the class poured in. Professor Port stood up, clapping his hands together.

"Why, welcome, class!" He said as the class took their seats. "Today, we'll be reading an article about Adam!"

Blake shook her head. "Excuse me?" She said rudely.

Professor Port frowned. "Do not talk back, young lady!" He said, with hostility in his voice.

"I'm sorry… I just… what did you say we were reading about?" Blake asked.

"That's better. Today, Blake, we are learning about Beowolves and their dangers." He replied. 

Blake nodded. Was she going mad? She shook it off.

"Ok, so we'll first start off with learning about the dangers of their claws." Professor Port said, pointing towards a diagram on the board.

"Abandoning your friends is never good." He seemed to say.

Blake's eyes widened. What was happening? She couldn't take it. Her head in her hands, she ran out of the room.

Professor Port exclaimed, "What is wrong with that young lady today?!"

Without permission, Ruby ran out the room, signaling for her team to follow. They had to find out what had gotten into their teammate.

"Oh goodness, me!" Professor Port said, watching as the whole of Team RWBY dashed out of the room.

_*I had fun writing this chapter. Hey, if you're a fan of AH, keep your eyes out for the new story I'm working on, __**The Achieve Men!**_


	15. Chapter 15: Reflecting the Past

Reflecting the Past

_*I regret to tell you that this story will now be updated every other day from now on. This is due to time constraints. Forgive me. On the weeks where I have time, I may update daily, but for the majority of the time I will no longer update daily. _

Blake ran down the halls, tears forming in her eyes. She did not know what was happening to her. Lately she had been having many flashbacks to when she was in the White Fang, the group she now despised.

She ran and ran, until reaching the roof of the school. She looked at the birds, free from struggle. She envied them. She wished to be free from her treacherous past, to be able to live in the present. That was all she wanted in her life.

"_Listen, Blake, don't screw this up, please." _

She continued to cry.

"_I… I won't."_

_Adam smiled. "Good."_

Blake shook her head, trying to wipe away the memories. '_I can't think of those things…'_ she thought, wiping away the tears. She got up and took another look at the sky. Tears continued to stream down her cheeks. Her vision was blurred from all of the salty tears coming from her eyes. She stared simply into the blue sky for a while, tears dropping to the ground. She could not peel her eyes from it. It meant something to her, to stand atop Beacon and look at the birds fly around… but what? Before she could contemplate this strange connection, she was interrupted by a troop of girls. Ruby was at the head, out of breath.

"Blake… We've… We've been looking all around… for…for you…" she wheezed. Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Listen Blake, what's wrong? Don't tell me it's because of the argument we had. You can't just run from your friends! We went over this already!" Weiss exclaimed, hands on her hips. Blake wiped a stream of tears from her eyes.

"No… it's not that. I was just… reflecting on some earlier events, that's all." Yang nodded.

"Well, if you don't want to tell us about that, that's ok, but don't run off like that!" She said, her voice filled with worry for her partner.

Blake smiled. "No, really, it's ok, I was just being childish, that's all." She said.

Ruby grinned. "Ok. Just… If you need someone to talk to…" She started.

Blake nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry for not telling you. You should probably get back to class." Blake told them. Weiss shook her head in confusion.

"Aren't you coming?" She asked. Ruby held her hand out.

"Leave it. It's okay, Blake, we'll tell Professor Port that you went to the nurse or something. Just… stay here and reflect, ok?" Ruby kindly said. Blake smiled.

"Thank you, Ruby." She said as the team left. She sighed. She should not of left her teammates again like that. It was very immature.

"_You're such a child! Grow up!"_

Blake shook her head again. She tried to stop herself, but could not help it as the memories flowed into her brain.

"_Adam, please." 10 year old Blake said. "I am a child. Just like you." _

_Adam did not seem too happy. "I may be 10, but I am still just as mature as an adult!" He said, turning his back to Blake. She laughed. _

"_That's what all the small children say."_

Another tear streamed down Blake's cheek. If only she could see Adam again…

"_Adam? Do you think this is right?" Blake asked, now a little older. Adam laughed at the question._

"_Of course it's right! We're fighting for our rights, Blake, come on, think!" He said mockingly. Blake nodded._

"_Yeah, you're right." She said, shaking her head at the stupid question, "Let's get on with this." _

Blake could not even get any tears out; she had used all of the emotion inside her. She could only manage a weak squeal.

"_Adam! That's enough!" Blake yelled. "You're gonna kill him!" Adam looked up, fury in his eyes. He dropped the man. _

"_These people deserve to die, Blake. Are you too blind to see that?" He said. Blake shook her head. _

"_Please, Adam, stop." She said, tears in her eyes. _

Blake tried to cry, but tears would not come. How could she rid herself of these terrible memories? They haunted her ever since they were embroidered on her brain. She simply could not take it. She made a conscious effort to stop these memories, and walked back into the school. She had to tell someone. Blake walked down the halls, speeding past dorms and classrooms. After a little while walking, she finally reached her destination.

Ozpin's office.

She knocked. No answer.

She knocked again. This time a clatter could be heard within the office.

"Who… who is it?" Ozpin called. Blake could barely get the words out.

"Ummmm…. Blake Belladonna, sir, of Team RWBY." She said shakily. From the other side of the door many locks could be heard being undone. Finally the door was opened.

"Hello, Ms. Belladonna. What do you seek?" He asked, a coffee mug in hand.

"Sir, I need to tell you something… Something about my past." She said.

Ozpin nodded. "Enter my office, dear. Tell me what it is on your mind."

Blake was surprised by this generosity as she walked into the dull room. Very Ozpin-like, gray walls and a simple fur carpet, with a desk at the end. She took a seat across from Ozpin's.

"Now, dear, I will not judge you. Whatever you have to say, go ahead." He said, taking a seat.

Blake took a deep breath, and untied her bow. She waited for a reaction.

Ozpin shrugged. "What?" He asked rhetorically.

Blake was taken aback. "Professor, I used to be part of the White Fang!" She said. A part of her wanted a negative reaction from Ozpin.

Ozpin again shrugged. "Keyword, Blake, _used to._ And I'm not dumb, I knew this." He merely said.

Now Blake was truly confused. "_What?" _

Ozpin nodded. "I know everything about my own students, Ms Belladonna." He said. Blake nodded. This was certainly odd. "Listen, my friend, Qrow, can give me all the information I need. I know of all your friends in the White Fang, and where they are right now." He said. Blake leaned in, woken up upon hearing this.

"Do you know an Adam Taurus?" She asked, now excited.

Ozpin hung his head. "Yes. Of course I do. He is your old friend. But he now wants your head for leaving him."


	16. Chapter 16: Secrets

Secrets

_*Hello, guys! Now, I don't mean to encroach on your reading experience or anything, but if you like Achievement Hunter, check out my other story, Achieve Men. It has gotten quite a response from the rest of the community, why not you?_

It was Saturday morning. Ruby had not slept very well, waking up every now and then. She could not get her mind off the fact that she had treated her teammate with such disrespect. She felt like a monster. She did not bother wake up her teammates, she just stared out the window.

"What the hell? Why didn't you wake me up?" Yang asked, getting out of her bed and waking the others up. Ruby turned around.

"Sorry. I forgot." She replied.

"Hey, are we gonna go see Penny today?" Weiss asked, wiping her eyes. Ruby turned around to face her.

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me." She said, getting her clothes on. "Let's get Team JNPR, then we'll go."

Yang groaned. "So early?" she complained. Ruby rolled her eyes and ignored her.

After everyone was changed, Ruby opened the dorm door and walked across the hall to the other team dorm. She knocked gently. Surprisingly, the other team was all ready as they opened the door.

"Hello!" Nora said, beaming at her friends. "We're ready to go." Ruby nodded. Nora walked out of the dorm first, and then the rest of the team followed. Pyrrha turned to face Ruby.

"Who's gonna tell her about it?" She asked. Ruby pouted, thinking for a second.

"I will." She boldly replied. If anyone was to do it, it was her. Pyrrha nodded, and they walked off, heading for the courtyard. The troop marched down the stairs, into the main floor, and out the door. The sunlight blinded them as they looked out upon the school. The airships leading to Downtown Vale were just about to depart. With barely a second left, they boarded the ships and were off.

Jaune hobbled off the ship first, feeling nauseous.

"Are we… are we there yet?" He asked, holding back vomit. Ruby patted him playfully on the back.

"Not yet. We have to take a bus downtown." She said, laughing. Upon hearing this, Jaune nearly fell over. Yang laughed.

"Calm down, it's just a bus." She said. An incomprehensible squeal came out of his mouth as they boarded the bus. The whole group laughed, trying to loosen him up. Within a few minutes, the teams had reached the station. As soon as they got off the bus, Jaune vomited. Pyrrha helped him up.

"It's ok…" She told him, a disgusted look on her face as she walked him away from the pile of bile. (Whoa, rhymes!) Ruby shook her head.

"It's this way." She crowed at the group, pointing toward Penny's street. And so they began to walk towards the intersection. Upon reaching it, they turned left and walked down RT Way. Ruby began to breathe somewhat heavily. For some odd reason, she was nervous.

They reached the colorful house. Yang knocked. After a moment of waiting, the door opened.

"Oh! What a surprise!" Penny exclaimed, gleefully looking at her visitors. "Come in." She warm fully said, gesturing for the teams to enter. Now in the house, they took a seat.

Penny stared at them all, smiling.

"What brings you here today?" she cheerfully asked. Ruby looked at the others, before speaking.

"Penny, we were in class… and we heard something… rather odd." She began. Penny's smile turned into a solemn pout. "We were learning about androids. And how sometimes they don't think when they act…" Ruby trailed. Penny flung her arms.

"Oh, so they teach you that now? I suppose they've told you _all _about me, huh?" She shot, suddenly angry. Ruby waved her hand.

"No,no-" She started. Penny shrugged it off.

"I've never killed anyone! I've always been in control. It hasn't happened to me in ages, anyway!" She continued, uncharacteristically furious. Ruby stopped her.

"Calm down. We just need to know. How much of a danger to you pose to the City of Vale? And to us?" She added. Penny calmed down.

"None. I've got it under control. I'm Level 13," She started. The group gasped. That's insane. "Yeah, I know. I'm Level 13 android. But, with all the knowledge I have of robotics, I was able to use my emotional drive to stop the bursts of violence." Ruby nodded.

"That's all we needed to know. We were speculating that the Creator had control of you during these spasms, so we were worried that you may lash out at us and the school." She explained. Penny sighed.

"Never. He can't control me." She simply said. A moment of awkward silence prevailed, broken by Weiss.

"How's Carl doing?" She asked. Penny rolled her eyes.

"He's doing fine. All he does is hibernate and complain. Then I fix him." She retorted. Weiss nodded.

"Cool." She replied. Again awkward silence, broken by the ringing of Ruby's scroll. She looked down, and face palmed. She looked at Blake.

"You're not supposed to be here. Ozpin sent out an alert. He's looking for you." She told. Blake pouted.

"We should get back, then?" She asked, rolling her eyes. Ruby nodded.

"Yeah. Like now. Sorry Penny, we gotta go." She said. Penny nodded, and they were off. They literally ran down the streets.

"Hey, how urgent is it?" Blake asked. Ruby shook her head.

"It's not that bad, but he wants you back there, or he calls the police to look for you." She replied. Blake nodded, and they continued to run. They finally reached the station. It was empty. The teams let out a groan of disappointment as they read the signs.

All bus rides cancelled.


	17. Chapter 17: Cancellation

Cancellation

*_Hey guys! Nothing to say here really, so just have fun reading!_

Blake's heart sank as she saw the sign: All Bus rides cancelled. Ruby nearly fell over.

"We're in big trouble _now…" _She thought aloud. Yang brushed it off.

"It can't be that bad, come on. If he calls the cops, we'll tell them we were here to get food." She said. Ruby shook her head.

"Don't you think they'll question _why _Ozpin's looking for her? We'll have to tell them she was in the White Fang! Imagine the chaos that would ensue then!" Ruby told. Blake nearly fainted. She had not seen it from that perspective. Yang blinked a couple times, looking around at the station. She saw a booth with a man standing in it, refunding tickets. She walked up to the man, pushing through the crowd.

"Hello, sir." She said, giving a nice wave. The man immediately gave Yang his full attention. "I would like to know why the trains are cancelled."

"Oh, have you not heard? There's been a terrorist attack by what's presumed the White Fang. They bombed a majority of the buses." He told. Yang gasped silently, and stood, shocked, for a moment. Blake would not be too happy about this…

"What happened?" Ruby queried. Yang sighed.

"There's… been a, uhmm, stirrup." She told, attempting to avoid the question. Ruby gave her a nasty look. "Oh, fine! Look, there's been a bombing! By the… the White Fang."

Blake breathed in, trying to calm herself down.

"_It's not them, it's Torchwick! A real Faunus would never do something to this magnitude!" _she thought.

Ruby noticed the expression on her face. "Look, It's probably not the White Fang. That does not matter now, though. What we have to worry about is getting you back to the school." She said comfortingly. Blake nodded.

"Yes, but…but, how, exactly?" She asked, barely able to hold back tears. Ruby pouted.

"We can call for a taxi? Maybe it'll take us to the airship." She suggested. All the girls nodded. Yang took out her scroll, and dialed the number for a taxi. Before they knew it, they were inside of a taxi. Blake had kept a solemn face throughout the whole affair, keeping to herself and her thoughts. 

"Blake? Are you… ok?" Weiss questioned. Blake took a second, then snapped out of her hypnotic state.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I… I just can't really imagine why anyone in the White Fang would kill civilians. They would kill leaders, yes, but not civilians…." She told. Weiss turned back around and faced forward. Suddenly, the taxi driver turned from the wheel.

"You wanna head to the Airships to Beacon, eh? That's gonna cost ya extra." He told. Yang nodded, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, your money, not mine." The man said, turning back to face the road.

After about ten minutes of complete silence, they had finally arrived at the airship station. The man once again turned around.

"That will be $50.00, please." The man said.

Yang, who was paying, could not help but gasp at the price. That was much more than expected. She brushed it off, and paid the driver. The team left the vehicle, and quickly began to walk towards the airships. The next departure for Beacon was in 2 minutes. They had just made it. They climbed aboard, and within a few seconds, the airship was off. The girls all sat in an awkward silence for the 5 minute ride, not wanting to make things worse by bringing up conversation.

The doors of the airship finally screeched open, and Team RWBY scrambled out into the light of Beacon Academy. Not even taking a moment to look at the school, they all dashed toward the front doors, which were thrown open. They ran up 2 flights of stairs, through their hallway, finally ending up in front of Ozpin's office. Ruby, out of breath, knocked urgently. For a second, no one inside the room reacted to the knocks, but eventually loud footsteps were heard leading up to the door. Ozpin gracefully opened the door. Ruby was still out of breath from running.

"Ozpin… Professor… Ozpin.. We're… here…" She wheezed. Ozpin squinted in confusion.

"I didn't hear that clearly." He said. Ruby waited a second, and repeated herself.

"We're here." She told him. Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"Why? I never summoned you." He said, suspicious. The initial reaction was shock.

"Girls, were you in Downtown Vale?" He asked. The girls nodded.

"A bus, or buses, to the station which includes _our _airships were blown up. You realize that?"  
>Ruby gasped. The buses were to their school? That meant…<p>

"Professor, we were late to those buses. We missed it by a millisecond." She told him.

"But why do you say that I summoned you?" He asked, eyeing the team. Ruby showed him the message she received on the scroll. Ozpin immediately became angry.

"Ruby, we don't _have _a bulletin! You realize this attack could've been aimed at Blake, right?" He told. Blake came to the horrific realization that these bombs could have connected to her. They said it was the White Fang, and Adam… She gasped.

Ozpin shook his head.

"This was a close encounter, Team RWBY. I told you not to bring Blake outside! This is what happens when you disobey me!"

Blake was not at all happy with the attention she was currently getting. She wanted to run away, but she couldn't she promised. Ruby looked mournfully at Blake, who had a completely blank expression. The poor girl must've felt so alone in this ever so cruel universe…

"Blake? You must stay indoors. Is that understood?" Professor Ozpin said, somewhat harshly. Blake glanced at him, and gave a small, weak nod. Her yellow eyes began to shine with tears. She swiped them away, before anyone could see.


	18. Chapter 18: Located

Located

*_Welcome, readers, to the beginning of the end. The next, say, 5 chapters will be the climactic ones. It sure was fun. _

"System hardware calibrated and ready to use." Carl's voice came from the kitchen. Penny jolted awake, her eyes widened with excitement. She ran down the stairs into the kitchen, where Carl spent most of his days now. There he was, ready 2 days earlier than expected. A somewhat maniacal smile painted on her face, she began.

"P-play last transmission." She stuttered excitedly.

"Transmission from: Unidentified." He said. Penny nodded.

"Okay, that's enough, friend. Don't play the message. Triangulate position of transmission." She said, not wanting to wait at all. Carl's head twisted and turned, and a bustle of smoke rose from his ears. This was normal. After a minute of this, Carl snapped back.

"Location found. Now tracking live position of target…" 

Penny squealed in joy.

"Coordinates? Area? Anything?" She gleefully asked.

"Target seems to be seems to be residing at 56 Mayor Way. Pacing around the residence. To track target through a mobile device, please insert a scroll with required capabilities." Carl answered. Penny was ready, and had already pre-prepared a scroll. Her hand shaking from excitement, she connected the scroll into a socket on the back of Carl's head.

"Transferring target data to scroll…" Carl said, jolting his head. "Transfer complete." Penny pulled the scroll out, and looked at it. On the screen was a map of Vale. A small dot appeared on the address Carl had told her: 56 Mayor Way. It was quite a while away, almost a whole mile down. The building, from what Penny could see, was huge. Somewhat like a… a warehouse. She smiled, her eyes glowing with vengeance. This man gave her a hellish life. Now, she could finally turn him in to the police, and put an end to his evil schemes.

"No." Penny thought to herself. "You mustn't get out of control. We need to plan." She decided to call Team RWBY.

Exiting the tracking application, she left a transmission to Ruby's scroll.

"It's ready." She simply said into the scroll. It would be a while until the team got the message; her scroll was quite an old model. She looked up from here scroll. Her very own creation, an old robot model with the intelligence and usability of a military drone. She marveled at her creation. She was quite a capable engineer, and she knew it. Penny was very modest, but even with as much as she had, she could not help but feel that she was amazing at engineering.

Carl suddenly jolted up.

"Transmission received."

Penny slowly turned to him.

"W…What is it? Play it." She said nervously.

"Message from Unidentified. Message play. *Crackle* _Hello, Penny. I would just like you to remember. There are rules in this world, you know? Obey them, or face the ever-so-punishing consequences. Don't be a nuisance, now, Penny. _*Crackle* Transmission end." Carl blurted. Penny fell to her knees. Does he know about her attempt to track him? Or is it just a coincidence? Before she could re-gather herself, the doorbell rang. She slowly got up. Who… who could it be? Her (mechanical) heart pounding, she slowly paced towards the door. She got closer and closer to it, until she could breathe on it. She slowly laid her hand on the cold, metal doorknob. Breathing out slowly, she opened the door. She let out a sigh.

"Hey-hey, Penny. We saw your… your message." Came Ruby's voice. "I'm here with everybody." She continued, pointing to the people behind her. All of Teams RWBY and JNPR, all except for Blake. Penny pouted. 

"Come in." She said, gesturing for the teams to enter. They quickly complied and entered the house, taking seats around the table. "Where's…where's Blake?" 

Ruby sighed. She proceeded to explain to Penny all that had happened, all the way to how when they visited Penny's house they received an imposturous message. Penny nodded, barely being able to take in such heavy information.

"Hmmph. Well… that will certainly be a problem." She said. Ruby nodded.

"Yeah… so, anyway, what's the plan?" she asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Well, I have none. But," She said, pulling the scroll from her pocket. "He lives here. 56 Mayor Way. Looks like a huge warehouse."

Ren, barely even taking a look, said, "Is it the warehouse you were created in?" Penny looked up.

"I don't think so. But it could be." She replied. "Why do you ask?"

Ren laughed. "Well, it's not like we run the risk of running into other androids then the ones you specified." He pointed out. Nora nodded.

"I agree!" She exclaimed. Penny sighed.

"I _highly _doubt he would risk creating any other androids. He created me, probably wouldn't want it to happen again, would he?" She replied grimly, looking at the ground. Ruby consoled her.

"Look, don't be so down on yourself. You have emotions, you should be happy." She said. Penny looked up, cocking her head as if confused.

"Emotions? For an android? Do you know the hatred I feel? The pain? The loneliness? Ruby, my friend, you will never feel what I feel. And I hope you never have to." 

Ruby was taken aback. "I'm-I'm sorry… Penny." Was all she could manage to get out.

"Don't worry about it. For now, we have to plan. Emotions… Whether they're mine or yours… must be placed aside." She told. The group nodded.

"So," Yang began. "Two ways to do this. Go in loud, or quiet." She suggested. Penny laughed.

"There is not two ways. Only one. Try going in silent, get caught, and be forced to go in loud. That is our only option. The Creator is not a fool. He will certainly have a plan B. He'll have major security on all entrances. Allow me to explain what I shall be doing. I will blow a hole through the roof, and we'll go in." She said. 

"Yes, seems like a good idea, but we will not know where in the warehouse we end up. We could end up anywhere." Pyrrha pointed out. Penny brushed it off.

"It does not make much of a difference. We'll find him. While you guys go in, I'll scout the outside, make sure no one escapes." She told them.

"You said we can only stop them through an off-switch, right? And now we know that you really can't do much against them… What will we do of that?" Jaune asked.

"Hmmph. I suppose you'll have to find the switch yourself. I'm sorry." She apologized. 

"We will never win." Yang muttered under her breath. "We can't even beat the androids without killing them, and if we kill them, our conscience will be bloodied, and our evidence gone. We are screwed."


	19. Chapter 19: The Warehouse

The Warehouse

"No." Blake shot. "I will not be left behind. I refuse to be left behind. You must take me with you." Ruby shook her head.

"Blake, come on, we can get into _major _trouble." She pleaded.

"Yes, you're right. You can get into major trouble. If I'm not there, it _will _be harder for you." Blake replied. Weiss gasped.

"_Excuse me?_ Don't be so full of yourself! We'll be fine without you!" She retorted. For a moment all was silent, Blake deciding what she was to defend her case with. All eyes were on her, awaiting her response.

"Listen, I just want to help out. This guy… His plan is to eradicate all Faunus, right?" She said, gritting her teeth. "I… I want to help. If he thinks killing all the Faunus will help become dictator or whatever his scheme was… He is right. His plan will do exactly that. But that plan cannot go on with _my_ _knowing about it. _I need to help protect my species." She looked up.

"You understand my view, now?" Ruby pouted.

"Blake…. I…" She trailed. "Fine. Just… Don't die, please?"

Blake nodded. "I won't. I'm prepared." Yang sighed.

"Let's go, then."

Everybody, Team JNPR, RWBY, and Penny, had walked for near an hour to their destination: The warehouse, which, according to Carl's calculations, held 'The Creator'. Penny stared at the warehouse with a blank expression. It was a plain structure, but very big. Surrounding it were huge cargo loads.

"Let's go, guys." She said, using her jet-feet to propel herself to the top of the building. The others followed suit and leaped onto the roof. Once they were all on, they gathered around the spot marked for their entry.

"You all know what to do, right?" Yang asked, looking around. Everyone nodded. "Okay. Get it open, Penny." Penny nodded.

"Get back." She said, her eyes turning a bright red. Suddenly a beam of bright red shot out of her eyes. She tilted her head, cutting a circle big enough for them all to fit. Penny completely finished the circle, and the roof that had been cut fell into darkness. A clang could be heard from inside the warehouse.

"Alright. That's finished! Now, I'll head to the entrance and scout the perimeter. You guys go inside. Good luck." Penny saluted them, and ran off the side of the warehouse. The teams looked at one another, and nodded in reassurement. One by one, they all plummeted into the darkness. As soon as they all went into the warehouse, the room they were in was lit. The sudden, bright light had disoriented them for a second, and they had not noticed their surroundings. As they regained their senses, they saw the room in its entirety. Nearly a three dozen Combat-class robots lined the walls of the huge room, all their eyes fixed upon the intruders. Suddenly, one robot called out.

"Intruders, identify yourself or you will be eradicated." When it didn't receive a response from the shocked group, it ordered the robots to kill. "Comrades, eradicate them." All the robots charged towards the center of the room, much faster than a usual robot.

"These robots... They seem familiar…" Blake thought aloud, slicing the head off of an attacking robot. "I saw them before… on the train."

"Look, Blake, don't mean to burst your bubble, but concentrate!" Weiss yelled. The group gathered into a circle, all watching each other's backs. Nora was getting joy out of this.

"Hey, most robot kills gets a cookie! Ahahha!" She said this as she blew up a crowd of robots. Ren shook his head.

"No time for games, Nora!" He yelled. If that game had been accepted, Blake would have won it. She, having already faced these robots, knew the strikes they were programmed with, and was able to dodge them and recover easily. She was jumping all over the place, using her grapple to her advantage. By the time the others had only killed five, she had already beheaded fourteen.

"Blake… How are you doing so well?" Jaune asked hopelessly. Blake laughed, slicing off another head.

"Like I said, I've met these guys before. I know all of their programmed strikes." She told him. Jaune nodded, and went back to fighting. Within a matter of minutes, all of the robots were dead, and everyone went unscathed. Ren wiped a sweat off his brow.

"That was a good warmup." He said mockingly. Yang nodded.

"There's only one door. Let's go through there." She said, pointing at the far end of the room, where a door stood. They all ran to it, and went into the next room. As the door closed behind them, someone else jumped into the room from the roof. No one had noticed.

The next room was a large lab, with parts scattered around a series of tables. Many valuable parts lay in this room. 

"Let's see if we can find anything that will show us where he is." Ruby suggested. The others nodded, and they began to search the room, throwing junk across the room. Documents were quickly skimmed over. Nothing was found of interest, except for one thing. A Schnee dust rapier, similar to Weiss's.

"I don't get what the big deal is," Weiss shot, examining the sword. "It's just a sword. The Creator could of just bought it." Blake shook her head.

"Your dad could be working with this guy. Selling him weapons. He does hate Faunus." Blake said. Weiss gasped.

"MY father? This sword could be bought at a dust shop for Pete's sake! Plus, my dad's been gone for ages. My uncle runs the company now. And my uncle doesn't have a boiling hatred for Faunus as much as my father." She pointed out. Blake sighed.

"Okay, whatever." She said.

Suddenly, a huge clang was heard from the last room. It sounded like someone was kicking the robots around. The group all ran to the door. As they pulled open the door, what they saw shocked them.

It was the man Blake had described as Adam.


	20. Chapter 20: Adam

Adam

*_Yo I just want you to know,_

_I love you._

_Continue reading._

Adam smiled. "I've been looking for you every waking hour of the day… finding a way to discreetly kill you. And you've just given the perfect way to." He said, bowing mockingly. Blake choked.

"W-why?" she asked weakly. Adam laughed.

"Why? Oh Blake, you know why. You swore in to the White Fang," He walked closer to the group. "You can't just… walk out."

Yang gritted her teeth.

"It's eight on-" She began, but suddenly was stopped. Everyone but Blake had been paralyzed.

"Hmmph. It's not eight on one. I only seem to see one opponent." Adam laughed, and gestured for Blake to fight him.

"How'd you learn that?" She asked, dumbfounded. Adam fixed his gloves.

"Perks of being in the White Fang. I can hold this for as long as an hour. Enough time… to kill you!" He charged at Blake, who dodged the attack.

"I... hate… you." Blake muttered, recovering from the attack. Adam clutched his sides, laughing maniacally.

"Oh, that's great, Blake. I feel the _same way._" He told her, a menacing tone in his voice. Blake, now filled with anger, rolled her hands into fists. She pulled out her sword and sheathe, dual wielding the two. Adam shook his head.

"Blake, here's your mistake. I know your attacks. I've sparred with you, honey." He said, an ear to ear smile on his face. He charged again, his katana clutched in his hand. He attempted a strike on Blake from overhead, jumping up in the air. Blake rolled out of the way.

"I know your attacks as well, _'honey'." _She shot back. Adam grinned. 

"Weak. You are weak. I can sense that _innocence, _you're still but a child." Adam said. Blake shook her head, and charged. Fueled by rage, she did not think to place her strikes in a timely order, and swung aimlessly at Adam. He blocked every one of her strikes, and managed to get his own in, slicing her arm. Blake clutched her arm.

"That was... foolish of me, I'll admit." The wound healed. Adam nodded.

" Ah… I forgot you use aura." He said, playing with his sword mockingly. Blake nodded.

"Yeah, I do." She replied. She folded her blade, turned it into a grapple-pistol hybrid, and with wrath in her eyes, threw the blade at the space behind Adam. She pulled back on the ribbon, and the gun fired, propelling itself towards Adam. He quickly dodged out of the way. He looked in awe at her new weapon.

"New toy? Looks pretty good, Blake." He said, a wicked expression on his face. "I'm so sorry that it'll be destroyed." Blake grit her teeth.

"No, Adam. I know full well what's happening here. While you're keeping _them _frozen," She said, pointing to her friends, "You can't keep your aura up."

Adam nodded. "Oh, smart of you. You're so good at figuring things out." He slowly let out, clapping menacingly. He then got into stance, and once again charged at Blake. Blake rolled to the side, and swung. She cut his arm, but it was only but a scratch.

"Tssk tssk, Blake, you'll certainly have to do better than _that." _He said, pointing to the tiny scratch on his left arm. He smiled. "Why don't _you _attack, for a change?I must admit, I'm getting tired."

Blake got into stance. "If you ask."

She used her semblance to quickly charge at Adam. She jumped over him, and attempted to hit him from behind. He stuck his sword between her blade and his body, blocking her strike.

"H-how?" Blake asked pathetically.

"Oh, Blake, didn't I already tell you?_ I_ _know your moves, fool." _He spat. Blake retreated, and face her opponent, both blades ready to block a strike. But that strike didn't come. Instead, Adam, kicked a robot head.

"You took these down? Pretty impressive. Hey, Blake, have you noticed something… odd about these robots?" Adam asked. Blake kept her guard up, but answered.

"They're the ones from the train, yeah. I've noticed."

Adam shook his head.

"No need to be _rude, _Blake!" He scorned. "Ah, I have a schedule to attend to. Buildings to blow up, _citizens to kill. _Let's get this over with." With that, Adam ran towards Blake. She stood her ground. Adam neared her, his blades hanging limply at his side. Before she could react, he feinted to the side, her unprotected side. He stabbed her. She squealed, but her aura had prevented much of the damage.

"Hmmph. Blake, you seem to be in the red now." Adam pointed out.

"Don't need to tell me." Blake shot back. Anger and frustration overcoming her, she decided to charge again. Using all of her energy, she sprinted towards Adam. He prepared to block a strike. Blake swung her sheath at his head, and was easily blocked. But only one thing he had not noticed: She was dual wielding. His other side was left unprotected, where his liver was. Blake slashed at his side, and retreated. Adam was crippled, forced to his knees.

"Good job, I suppose." He said. Blake had no time for compliments.

"Unfreeze them." She sternly said. Adam laughed, some blood oozing out his mouth. He was bleeding profusely.

"Sweetheart, I won't You'll have to kill me to let them go." He remarked, a wicked smile on his face. Blake raised her sword.

"I-I will! If I have to! Let them go… or…or face the consequences!" She shouted,

"Blake, sweetheart, I won't. Torture me or whatever, I don't care. _You _of all people know my will is insufferably unstoppable. You cannot make me let them go… Unless you kill me." Aam informed her. Blake bit her lips.

"Adam. Don't make me kill you!" She yelled, her voice beginning to shake. Adam once again laughed.

"You're _weak, _Blake! You don't have the guts to kill one evil guy? Oh, you're turning into a human, feeling mercy for your enemy." He mocked.

"Adam… you're not my enemy. We used to be friends. I refuse to kill you." She whispered.

"_TO HELL WITH THAT! I tried to kill you, don't you see, Blake, I __**am **__your enemy! You fail to realize it! Kill me!" _Adam yelled, a mad expression painted on his face.

Blake's eyes filled with tears.

"No."

Adam nodded.

"I'll never be your friend again, Blake, just kill me. The old Adam is gone." He whispered.

Blake shook her head. "I will _not." _

Adam looked down at the ground.

"Blake, I've failed. I cannot face my comrades having failed to kill you. They will come after me and torture me if you let me live. So if you won't do it, not even to ensure my peaceful death, I'll do it!"


	21. Chapter 21: Revelations

Revelations

*_It's starting to get INTEENSEEEE!_

"I'll do it!" Adam shouted, picking his katana from the ground. His hands shaking, he gripped the blade, and looked at Blake with mad and defeated eyes. Blake reached an arm out, but was too late. Adam sunk the blade into his gut. He slowly keeled over, and died. Blake gasped, looking at her dead would-be-killer. A tear slowly rolled down her eye, her arm still reached out towards him.

_So much blood… _

She thought, looking at the pool of crimson that had engulfed Adam's body. Suddenly, lost in her thought, she heard in the distance people gasping for air. The others had been un-frozen. Blake put her hand down slowly and cocked her head.

"You guys okay?" She asked in a low voice. Ruby wiped herself off.

"We're fine… I don't remember much… whoa!" Ruby had seen Adam lying on the ground. "What… what happened here?!"

Blake frowned. "He killed himself." Blake then proceeded to give details about what had happened. 

"Brutal…" Was all Yang could manage to say. The others nodded. Pyrrha pat Blake's back.

"It's okay, Blake. We must concentrate on the task ahead of us. We mustn't focus on Adam." Pyrrha suggested. Blake nodded, and stood up. They then walked back to the lab in the next room. Blake did not turn back. The group went past the mess they left, past the Dust Rapier that lie on the lab table. They walked across the room to another door.

"Wonder what'll be in here…" Ren muttered. His question was answered as the door swung open. The room was completely white. Weiss gasped.

"My father's invention! He created it when he owned the company, before he left my family! This pirate is stealing my father's work!" She yelled, hands on her hips. Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Who owns Schnee now?" She asked. Weiss shrugged.

"My uncle and grandfather." She replied. Blake nodded. 

"So… What is this, exactly?" She queried. Weiss wiped some dust from her skirt.

"It is used to enhance the semblance of someone. Restore aura and such. He never completed the project, but _this _one seems to work. The Creator must be quite smart to find out what my father had missed…" She told the group. Blake looked down, and saw that her aura had indeed rejuvenated itself. She nodded.

"Impressive." Blake thought to herself. "So, anyway, where's the way out? I mean, this is a room, right."

"Yes, yes, it's a room. The exit should be…. Right about there." Weiss pointed at an empty white space. Jaune pouted.

"How can you tell?" He asked. "It's just a white space, after all." Weiss rolled her eyes.

"I saw my father _create _this. Plus, there's always a tiny x on the ceiling where the door would be." She explained, pointing at a marking on the ceiling. "Let's just go. I don't like the feeling of this."

Weiss led the group out of the door, and this time they were met with a large hall. 

"I sense this is where _he _is…" Ren whispered. There was an odd feeling about the room. It was large, but a lot of it was covered in darkness. The entrance was lit by one hanging light, and all that could be seen were the walls, decorated with pillars. The pillars. They had what looked like stone recreations of Faunus supporting them. Blake grit her teeth, and tried not to look. There was also a mural on the wall, painted with scenes of humanity's failures, its wars, its triumphs, and its advances. It was an interesting mural to look at, but only half was showing. Yang could not restrain herself.

"Show yourself, will ya?!" She yelled at the darkness, paranoid and curious. Lights at the end flickered, and the hall was lit. Only one section had remained in the darkness. The other end. The only thing the group could make out was someone who seemed to be sitting on a throne. Breathing became rushed, hearts skipping beats. 

Suddenly, a sigh came from the throne.

"I never thought I would see you again." A crooked voice came from the throne. Weiss's face became solemn. She stared forward, not taking her eyes off the man, whose face was covered by shadows.

_That voice…_

She thought to herself. The man stood up, and walked into the light. He wore robes of white, decorated with stripes of gold running down a scarf the man wore. He raised his arms in an embracing gesture. His eyes were light blue, his hair white, and his skin fair. Weiss cocked her head, her eyes widening. She nearly vomited from the pure shock. Her breath became ragged, and she felt like sinking into the floor. The man grinned.

"Daughter…" He trailed. Weiss frowned. "Don't be so pale. _You knew it was me, didn't you?"_ Weiss shook her head. Where tears should have been, flames resided. She did not shed even a tear.

"This is where you went, then?" She whispered. Mr. Schnee laughed.

"You'll have to speak louder next time, dear, but yes. I came here." He said, a menacing grin filling his face. He made a small gesture, and three figures came from the shadows. Vlad, Nika, and Ember. Vlad was just as large as Penny had described him to be. For his size, which was nearly that of an Ursa, he moved smoothly and looked to be very coordinated. He wore a plain vest, a shoulder plate, and a kilt to cover his thighs. He had an odd skin color, which looked somewhat light-green. His arms were huge, and his legs ripped. He had a sickly sweet smile on his face, a face full of bloodlust. He licked his lips as he looked at his opponents.

Ember stood to his left, a bored expression on her face. Her eyes were cold, and were near closed, as if barely keeping awake. She looked as if she would rather be doing something else then to be bothered with pests like those who had faced her. Her hair was a dark-ish green, her skin light, and she wore a combat skirt similar to that of Ruby and Weiss's. She even had a Dust Rapier modeled just like Wiess's. Closer to the creator was who appeared to be Nika.

Her skin was a bit darker, her hair void-black. Her eyes showed discipline and modesty, and she was observing her opponents. Her face made her seem like a jovial person, but the depth in her pupils old otherwise. She wore gold and black armor. She carried a blade and shield, both decorated fiercely. Her shield was jagged, with no definite shape. It had sharp edges and sharp turns, and was large enough to block even Nora's hammer. Her blade was fire-orange, designed to look like a flame. She looked prepared.


	22. Chapter 22: The Three Android, Part 1

The Three Androids, Part 1

A wicked smile formed across Mr. Schnee's face.

"The Faunus ruined my family, killed my relatives. I_ will _eradicate them." He shouted. Suddenly, Ember, laughed, pointing at Blake, who cowered.

"Sir, that one… She has the scent of a Faunus." The green-haired girl pointed out. Mr. Schnee nodded.

"Go on, kill them. Even my daughter, yes." He replied. The three androids nodded, and took point. Team JNPR and RWBY looked at one another. Ruby hung her head.

"JNPR, take Vlad. RWBY will take Ember and Nika, since they work tema-like. Go. If you lose your aura, leave. Don't fight." She yelled at her comrades. They split into groups, and faced their opponent(s). Mr. Schnee closed his eyes, relaxing.

"Come on, get this over with."

Vlad

Vlad wiped his club clean, and began to run towards the tiny humans. He was surprisingly fast for his massive size, and was able to catch JNPR by surprise. The four had barely gotten out of the way as the club landed where they had once been. Vlad pouted.

"I missed, huh." He muttered.

"Try blinding him!" Ren suggested. The others nodded in agreement, and Pyrrha took her spear from its sheathe. She took one step, and with a concentrated face lurched the spear at Vlad's eye. With barely a moment to spare, Vlad caught it in mid-air. He turned to face Pyrrha. He tightened his fist, and shattered the spear. He cocked his head at Pyrrha, and readied his club. He swung blindlessly, allowing Pyrrha to jump and dodge each of his strikes. Vlad's blank expression contorted into a solemn and angry one. 

"How can you be so fast?"

_BOOM._

While he was distracted at Pyrrha's agility, Nora had taken the chance and swung as hard as she could at the beast. Her hammer hit flesh, and Vlad was sent barreling across the room. Nora laughed, and swung her hammer over her shoulder. 

"Ooooh, that'll hurt in a couple days!" She taunted. Vlad propped himself up on one arm, and stood up.

"Flame-haired girl… I'll get you…" He trailed. Nora chuckled.

"Okay!" She saluted Vlad, and ran off.

"W-where did you go?!" Vlad asked, aimlessly turning around to look for his enemy. Ren looked at Jaune. They both nodded at each other, and began to sprint at Vlad, weapons ready at their side.

"We're right here!" Jaune yelled. Vlad turned around. 

"Oh." He retorted as he picked Jaune up and swiped Ren away. "Thanks for warning me."

Jaune was terrified. "D-do something!" He cried at his teammates

. Ren was just getting up, and Nora was still nowhere to be seen. Pyrrha closed her eyes. She must save Jaune. She began to sprint, her sword and shield ready. Vlad turned around, Jaune still in hand, and swiped at Pyrrha. She blocked it with one swift movement from her shield, and struck Vlad in the arm that held Jaune. He screamed, and dropped Jaune. Both Jaune and Pyrrha, retreated, allowing Vlad to analyze his wounds. Jaune had his hands on his knees, trying to get his breath back.

"You-you… Damn, Pyrrha, you saved my ass!" He said in a cheerful mood. Pyrrha blushed.

"Well, you are the team leader." She replied. Ren then interrupted.

"Look, it's not time for your-ow.-your love antics." He scolded, clutching his side. Jaune and Pyrrha both gasped.

"We-What?" 

Ren merely shrugged, and pointed to Vlad, who was now recovering. "Just… fight. Nora's _probably _doing something to help…. Somehow." Pyrrha and Jaune looked at each other, and nodded. They musn't waste time.

"That's not fair!" Vlad yelled in the distance. "Why can't I get a shield?" 

His right hand was severely damaged, but it seemed not to slow his movement. But then again, he was an android.

"I'll get you for that!" He screamed, charging at the group. Jaune and Pyrrha dodged easily, but Ren, now incapacitated, was not able to move quickly out of the way. He was smashed against the wall. Vlad did not notice the crippled body pressing against him, and immediately turned around, not knowing he hit anyone. Ren fell to the floor, unconscious and probably seriously injured. Pyrrha winced as Vlad hit Ren.

"Jaune, take care of Vlad. I'll make sure Ren's ok. Jaune nodded, and faced his opponent, as Pyrrha ran to Ren's side. She shook him.

"You ok? You awake?" She asked, snapping her fingers in front of his face. When she received np response, she checked his heartbeat. He had a low heart-rate, but was fine. 

"Unconscious… huh. His aura must have been diminished form that strike." Pyrrha muttered to herself. She stood up, and grabbed Ren. "Damn, he's heavy!"

She dragged him along the wall, trying to reach the door. She would keep him in the white room, allow him to regenerate his aura. Just as she reached the exit, it was blocked by spears that rose from nowhere.

"You can't leave!" Mr. Schnee's booming voice came. Pyrrha pouted, and put Ren back over her shoulder. She looked around, and spotted a pillar that seemed good to enough to allow him to rest. She dragged Ren over to the pillar, and laid him down on it. She nodded, and re-joined Jaune. He had handled the fight pretty well for, well, Jaune. Vlad had a couple new scratches from last time. He did not look happy when Pyrrha re-joined the fight. Fueled by anger, he charged headlong towards the group, who just barely dodged. Blinded by his own fury, Vlad had had not stopped and flew straight into a pillar. Its base cracked, and it gave way, nearly hitting Vlad and his two opponents. The fighting floor was now covered with rubble. Vlad sat on the ground, scratching his head in confusion.

"So…painful…. Pain…I hate pain."

Suddenly, Nora's voice was heard from the doorway.

"Pain? You hate it, huh? Here's some more!" She took a huge contraption from her back and fired. A laser-beam shot out of it and at Vlad chest. He screamed in agony as the beam burned through his flesh. Nora laughed maniacally.

"Found it in the lab!" She shouted at her comrades. Suddenly the beam stopped. "Awwwe, I think it's out of juice. Damn. What a waste."

Nora could not have been more wrong. Vlad's chest was now bloodied, and a gaping hole formed on it. It was almost deep enough to go through his entire body. Vlad looked in awe at his new injury, then up at Nora.

"O…_OWWWW!" _He boomed. Nora chuckled.

"Calm down. Hey guys, where's Ren?" She asked. Jaune turned solemn.

"Unconcious." He replied. Nora paused. Her face then hardened, and her open hands turned into fists.

"Hmmph. This bastard is dead now."


	23. Chapter 23: Vlad's Farewell

Vlad's Farewell

_*Fun fact: This was made while listening to FMA songs (Openings and Endings). If you haven't checked out that anime, definitely watch it._

"That bastard's dead." Nora said, her eyes widening as she saw Ren's unconscious body. "That android… He's dead!"

She wielded her hammer, looking Vlad straight in the eye. His pupils shrunk, as if he was terrified of what was to come. Nora shot a hail of grenades at Vlad, who had just enough time to get out of the way. She switched the launcher back to a hammer, and again sprinted at Vlad. He prepared to defend as she neared him. Nora, smiling wickedly, slid under Vlad's legs. As she did this she stuck her hammer straight in the air, and her hammer hit where no hammer should ever go. Vlad cringed and fell over, clutching his crotch. He roared, and wincing, faced Nora with a terrified expression. She merely saluted, and giggled mockingly. Vlad, a very pride-driven android, did not take this well, and slowly got up, ignoring the flaring pain.

"Don't laugh at me!" He boomed, chucking his club at Nora. She gasped, surprised at this reckless move, and barely jumped over the flying club. It knocked her shins, and she was sent spiraling, landing on her face. Nora got up, shook herself off, and picked her hammer up from the ground. Her head hurt a little, so she blinked a couple times and shook her head. Vlad smiled.

"Got you good, I did?" He mocked. "More where that came from, girl."

He laughed, and sprinted towards Nora, courage filling him. She prepared to defend, but was too slow. Vlad picked her up and threw her. He kept on running forward to pick up his club, which lay near Mr. Schnee's throne. Vlad grabbed the club, and turned to face Nora, who lay on the floor, hair scattered, and face-down. Pyrrha and Jaune were at her side, shaking her.

"Damn!" Pyrrha shouted. "She's unconscious. Another!"

She balled her hands into a fist, uncharacteristically furious. Her whole body shook with rage, her veins pumping a desire for vengeance. She stood up.

"Jaune, take Nora and place her in a safe spot." She turned to face Vlad. "I'll handle him. Nora was being reckless attacking him like that, but she did do a good amount of damage."

Jaune nodded, and picked up Nora's unconscious body. Pyrrha began to run closer to Vlad, but stopped just short of him.

"You want some too?" Vlad asked, raising his eyebrows. "Ok. Fine with me." 

"I don't think you understand. I will win this. You will lose. I don't want 'some', and I will not receive 'some'." Pyrrha shot back.

"Oh, but your spear. I think you may have forgot, _I destroyed it." _Vlad taunted. Pyrrha laughed, and unsheathed her sword and shield. She began to sprint towards Vlad.

"I don't need a spear to kill you, I don't even need this sword. I can use my bare hands." She muttered under her breath, running towards Vlad. He smashed his club in front of her, just barely missing her face. The club dug into the ground, and Vlad couldn't unstick it. Pyrrha, seeing her chance, ran up the huge club and right up to Vlad's face. She smield, and stabbed his right eye. He roared, and Pyrrha jumped back before she would be demolished. He clutched his bloody eye, screaming in pain. Pyrrha winced. She had done quite the devastating blow. Vlad's breathing slowed, and he took his hand off his eye. He looked at Pyrrha with his one good eye. His other was severed, and gushing blood.

"Ow…." He moaned. Pyrrha shrugged.

"Sorry." She replied. Suddenly, Jaune ran to her side. He took one look at Vlad, and covered his mouth, holding back vomit.

"Holy _crap!" _He shouted. "Brutal…"

Pyrrha shook her head. "It's only a little blood. Come on, let's finish him."

Jaune sighed, nodded, and the two ran towards Vlad together. Pyrrha signaled for Jaune to take the right side, and he complied. Pyrrha took the left, and would distract Vlad as Jaune went for a fatal strike. Her plan worked, and Vlad immediately went for Pyrrha, leaving his back side wide open for Jaune. Sword trembling in hand, Jaune sheepishly stabbed Vlad in the back. He barely flinched, and Jaune quickly retreated before things got ugly. Vlad turned around, took one good look at Jaune, and immediately turned back to face Pyrrha. Jaune exhaled, wiped sweat off his brow, before realizing something.

"Wait… He thought I was _weak!" _Jaune thought. He suddenly felt angry. "_I'll show him…"  
><em> 

"_**HEY! YOU! YEAH, YOU FAT-ASS, OVER HERE!" **_Jaune yelled at Vlad. Vlad kicked away Pyrrha, and turned around. Before he could even get a glimpse of who called him, he got a slice to the stomach. Vlad clutched his new wound, moaning in pain.

"So… much pain…" Suddenly, he lost attention of Pyrrha and Jaune and faced Mr. Schnee. "You… _You said pain would not exist for us androids! You said we would not bleed like petty humans! You lie…!"_

Mr. Schnee's smile turned into a solemn expression.

"Your time is over, Vlad. You've been quite the _nuisance. _Goodbye." With that Mr. Schnee snapped his fingers. Suddenly, Vlad froze, and fell to the ground with a _thud. _

"Why can't I move? Why… can't I move? Father… What is this?" Vlad pleaded desperately, tears forming down his face. A sudden and horrific realization came to Pyrrha.

_Androids could not cry. They could not feel anger. They couldn't have pride. They couldn't feel emotion. Vlad… Is not an android…. He's like Penny!_

She gasped.

"I… FATHER! Answer me! Am I… Human?" Vlad muttered. Mr. Schnee laughed.

"Of course you are. Now die, please." He harshly said. Vlad shut his eyes.

"I… hate… you…." He trailed, before dying. Most people say that people should die with peaceful looks on their face, but Vlad's looked as if he was lost. He looked sad and helpless. Pyrrha turned to face Mr. Schnee.

"Why do they follow you? They are androids with emotional capabilities… they should have a sense of guilt or rebellion, but they follow you blindlessly… What have you done to them?!"


	24. Chapter 24: Mr Schnee

Mr. Schnee

"What have I done with them? They're androids, you understand? Made from humans. They have feelings. It's inevitable." Mr. Schnee scolded in reply to Pyrrha's question.

"Yes, but Penny! She does not follow you like a dog." Pyrrha shouted. Mr. Schnee chuckled.

"Yes, she was tricky to make." He told over the sound of swords clashing and bodies clashing from the other fight. "I ran out of parts when making her, so I was not able to install the component necessary to keep her loyal. So she was the only one born with a sense of rebellion."

Pyrrha hung her head, overcome with anger at Mr. Schnee's inhumane methods. She looked up. The man was smiling, taking joy from Pyrrha's reaction. She rolled her ball in a fist, and began to sprint at Mr. Schnee. He remained still as she neared him. Pyrrha reached the stairs to his throne, but ran into a solid but invisible wall. She looked up, shocked.

"How are you doing that?" She asked angrily. Mr. Schnee held up his hand.

"My semblance." He replied, a bland and bored expression on his face. Pyrrha's jaw dropped.

"That shouldn't be possible… The only thing that can be created by semblances are…"

"Yeah, yeah, visions, whatever. But my spending so much time studying dust and aura, my semblance has grown ever stronger." He said, holding a ball of flame in his hand. "You see, you will not win this fight, even if you beat my droids."

Jaune, suddenly appearing at Pyrrha's side, shook his head.

"But we have! Your plan is ruined! How will you gain dictatorship or destroy the Faunus when you don't have any androids to help you with your first step: Winning the tournament!" Jaune shouted. Mr. Schnee's wicked smile suddenly faded, and he hesitated for a moment.

"No! I have an army of robots! I can still manage to destroy the Faunus that ruined my life!" He shouted back, his voice becoming shaky. Jaune laughed.

"Hah, those things? They won't get you anywhere. The Faunus aren't all bad, why must you destroy them?" He queried. Mr. Schnee hung his head.

"I no longer wish to speak with you children." He raised his hand, and the ground in front of Jaune and Pyrrha rose up, and formed a sound-proof wall, which could not be seen through. Pryrrha cursed.

"How long must he have trained to be able to alter the Earth like that?" She muttered. She looked at Jaune. "We must be careful with him."

He nodded, but then pointed towards Team RWBY's direction. Pyrrha sighed, nodded back, and they both ran towards the other fight.  
>-<p>

Team RWBY vs. Nika and Ember

"I'll take point! If you can manage it, try to split up and two will take one, two will take the other!" Ruby shouted at her teammates as they ran towards their opponents. Ruby took the first step, and swung her axe at Ember, who dodged it with a well-placed glyph below her feet. Ember brandished her Rapier, and smiled wickedly at Ruby.

"That was a bit rude." She said. Suddenly, in a blur of colors, she ran towards Ruby. Ruby barely managed to dodge the hit, and her skirt was cut, just missing flesh.

Weiss took the next shot, and boosted herself forward with a glyph, her sword pointing outwards. Ember Got into defensive stance, and easily parried Weiss's sword. Weiss, taken by surprise at Ember's speed, almost stumbled as she went face-to-face with her opponent. Weiss quickly switched her Rapier's setting to yellow, and adrenaline filled her veins as she became faster and stronger. Ember smiled.

"That won't help." She chuckled. Weiss's face turned into a concentrated one. She suddenly place a glyph under her foot, and she dashed at Ember again. Only feet away, Weiss quickly placed a glyph under her left foot, which sent Weiss forward into Ember's vulnerable sides. Her plan worked, and even with Ember's speed, she was not able to dodge the slice from Weiss. It was a mere scratch.

"Aww, I'll definitely need a band-aid for _that_. Too bad I don't have aura like you cheap bastards." She muttered, flashing her rapier. She looked to the side. "Ah, looks like you guys have already split up. Good, I can take out you guys and help out Nika, though I doubt she need help with _you._"

Ember was right, Yang and Blake had taken on Nika while Wiess and Ruby remained with Ember.

Ruby suddenly came to Weiss's side .

"We'll take you on!" She shouted confidently. Ember put her hands on her hips in a matter-of-fact way.

"Really…?" She sighed, and placed a glyph under her feet, charging forward towards Ruby. She couldn't get out of the way this time, but luckily Weiss had placed a glyph under her feet last minute, pushing her out of the way of Ember. Ruby did not expect this, and nearly fell on her face as she landed. She got up, clutching her side.

"Thanks, Weiss." She moaned. Weiss nodded.

"Don't worry about it." 

Ember sat looking at the two, arms crossed. 

"You done with the 'oh thanks for saving me' crap? Let's get on with this, I have a whole _race _to destroy, tournaments to win!" She shouted, a triumphant and excited look suddenly crossing her face. She cracked her neck, wiped the green hair from her face, and faced her opponents. "When will _you _try to attack me? It's getting boring just fighting still targets, y'know."

Weiss prepared to attack, but Ruby held her back.

"She's stronger than us, she'll definitely try to lure us into our own deaths. Be careful, Wiess." She advised. Weiss nodded.

"I'll be careful." With that, she shook Ruby's hand off herself, and engaged in fighting with Ember. She swung wildly, Ember blocking every strike with no signs of even trying. Weiss was definitely different, she was not as coordinated. She had not reacted too much when she saw her father up there… Her concealing her emotions had taken a toll on her fighting skill. Ruby shook her head, and joined Weiss's side in fighting Ember. This would certainly be a hard fight.

*_Hey, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry for the delay, I just am really worried about the outcome of my exams, they are important for my future. I hope you guys understand._

_-Jon_


	25. Chapter 25: Ember

Ember

*_I don't know why, I just really love Ember and Nika. They remind me of the Malachite sisters, except not related._

Weiss and Ruby stood side-by-side, facing their opponent, Ember.

"Girls, girls, this _isn't _a fair fight." She said, shaking her finger mockingly. She readied her sword, rolling her eyes. "Let's get this over with." Ember dragged.

She flicked the rapier's setting to red, and quickly shot fireballs at Weiss and Ruby. They both rolled to safety, just barely dodging the attack. Weiss, recovering, flicked _her _rapier to the blue setting. Aiming steadily at her target, she sent a wall of ice towards Ember, attempting to catch her and freeze her. Ember, just a tad too slow, got her leg caught and was rendered stuck. She moaned, but quickly pulled her leg out with just enough time before Weiss and Ruby came. This took Weiss by surprise.

"Not even a Deathstalker could escape that…" she muttered, watching Ember fly through the air as she escaped the ice, landing gracefully on the floor.

"I have superhuman strength, remember? Simple ice can't trap me." Ember mocked, dusting herself off. Ruby tightened her grip on Crescent Rose. She was asking for it, and she would get it.

Ruby suddenly bolted towards Ember, Crescent Rose held tight in her hand. Ember got into stance, preparing for a strike. Ruby, deciding to spice things up, dug her scythe into the ground just before reaching Ember. She then used the scythe as a pole, and spun around it, holding her feet out. This took Ember by storm, and she was kicked in the face hard, knocking her down. Ruby set her feet back on the ground, and pulled her scythe back. She held Crescent over her head, preparing to finish Ember, but was interrupted by a sudden glyph under her feet, placed by Ember as a life-saver. Ruby was sent flying through the air, landing in a heap on the ground.

"Phew, that was _close._" Ember said, pretending to wipe sweat from her forehead.

Ruby got up, clutching her side. She raised Crescent Rose, preparing to attack again, but was stopped by Weiss.

"Allow me."

Weiss switched her rapier to the default glyph setting, and propelled herself forward. Inches away from Ember, she did the classic jump in-the-air trick, but this time with a twist. As she was mid-air, she got into a nose-dive position right over Ember. She then cleverly placed a glyph under her feet, propelling herself downward towards Ember, who had no way to block an airbourne strike. Ember, in haste, tried to dodge Weiss, but could not, and was stabbed through the arm, the blade going straight through. She merely grimaced as Weiss pulled her rapier out of her arm, grabbing it to stop the blood and oil from flowing. Still, with her arm rendered practically useless, she smiled.

"Hey, you know a major ingredient in the circulation of an android is acid? Just to keep the oil from sticking to the human parts of us, you know." Ember told. Weiss looked at her rapier. The part of it that had sunk into Ember's arm had melted, dripping red-hot acid. Weiss dropped it quickly, obviously upset that the family heirloom was destroyed. Ember laughed, clutching her side. Weiss looked up, and balled her fist. She had been trained, no? Hand-to-hand combat was no big deal. She popped her knuckles, and slowly walked towards Ember, ignoring Ruby's pleas. Ember was still laughing, obviously amused. Weiss grabbed her by the collar, and threw her. Ember, taken by surprise, dropped her rapier.

Ember slowly got up, and as she stood, she pulled back her sleeves, revealing steel gauntlets.

"Look, white, I'm prepared." She said, a solemn look on her face as she held up her hand. Weiss frowned, but did not back down, sprinting towards Ember. She started with a quick hook to Ember's right side, which was easily blocked. Ember retaliated by attempting to wrestle Weiss down to a submissive position, which was met by a fight. Ember pulled Weiss into a bear-grip position, and Weiss reacted by elbowing Ember. She clutched her stomach, which had taken quite the hit.

"You hit quite well for a human." Ember chuckled. She suddenly felt a tap on her back. She turned around, and was met with Ruby's scythe. With barely a second to spare, Ember used her gauntlets to block Crescent Rose. Ruby quickly pulled off.

"I fight fair. I won't sucker-punch you like that." She told Ember, explaining why she tapped her. Ember's smile turned into a frown. She began to speak, but was once again interrupted by a body slamming into her.

"Oops! Sorry, I didn't see you!" Jaune apologized, extending a hand towards Ember. Pyrrha quickly slapped it out of the way, telling Jaune that she was the enemy.

"Oh, sorry." He sheepishly whispered. Ember got up, scratching her head.

"Crap…" She muttered, looking at all the people surrounding her. Ruby laughed.

"Surrender, android!" she shouted, pointing at Ember. Ember looked like she was seriously contemplating it, but then shook her head.

"Never! Nika would never do it, so neither will I!" She yelled, grabbing her rapier from the ground. Her breath became ragged, as she looked around at the people surrounding her. Her lip quivered with fear.

"Why… why do I feel fear?" She dropped her rapier, a look of shock on her face. She jerked around. "Why… why was I feeling hateful before? Why did I feel?"

Her voice suddenly became terrifyingly shaky, as if she had just realized a revelation. Pyrrha bit her lip awkwardly, knowing what was going to know happen, but Mr. Schnee did not seemed to be too concerned about Ember, knowing that Ember would never have the guts to attack her master, unlike Vlad. She dropped to her knees, looking at her hands.

"Am I a human-based android?" She looked up at Mr. Schnee. "You told me I was a robot, just built with human organs! I thought the feeling of loyalty was just my programming, and was my duty, but now I realize it's slavery! You've lied to us! What… what was my life like prior to this?"

Mr. Schnee sighed.

"If you must know, I found you on the streets. Now, please, die." He simply said. He flicked his finger, and just as had happened with Vlad, Ember fell to the floor. Nika had not noticed any of this, too engaged in combat. Mr. Schnee called out to her, realizing she had not noticed.

"Come, protect me. We will leave. The others proved weak, and we will continue the plan ourselves!"


	26. Chapter 26: Flashback

Flashback

*_This is just so you can get a feel of what exactly is up with Weiss and her father._

A younger, innocent-looking Weiss sat on the steps of her mansion, looking at into the expanse of woods in front of her. It was odd for a child to have so much space to play in, but to stay indoors, but Weiss did just that, for her father insisted her training be vigorous. He had always wanted a perfect daughter, and would go to extremes to get Weiss to fit his vision. Weiss never complained about this, and went with it without question. She too, inheriting her father's traits, had always been a perfectionist, and pushed herself to her limits during training. Many times she would simply faint from exhaustion in the middle of her classes. She was taught by the seasoned 13-time tournament winner, a man that simply went by the name Ling. He was of Weoeras, and had moved to Vale in search of knowledge of the aura. He had trained for almost 10 years, in the arts of fighting and aura, and became a master, using his talent to gain wealth. He retired after reaching the age of 57, deciding his body was no longer capable. He went to live quite life, but was soon lured into training Weiss by none other than her own father. He paid the man great sums of money, and he had Ling soon under his control.

Weiss frowned as she heard Ling call for her from inside.

"Come, girl, your break is over!" He shouted. He had trained with Weiss for near 2 years. Weiss slowly perched herself up and walked back inside, passing the large entrance hall and entering the training room. Ling stood in the middle, rubber swords at his side. He tossed one to Weiss.

"Let us begin," He said, preparing stance. "You must learn to defend properly. In this drill you may only counter or block."

Weiss nodded, and got into a defensive position. Ling slowly walked towards Weiss, and slashed down. Weiss rolled to the side, and Ling sighed, holding his face in his hands.

"I am going not even 50% on you, and you still cannot listen! Only counter or block! Try again!" He commanded. Weiss nodded, and grit her teeth. She hated to upset Ling. Ling once again struck Weiss, this time aiming low. Weiss placed her sword in between her flesh and the sword, and Ling jumped back.

"Good."

Once again he charged. He struck Weiss from upwards, and she blocked it again. But Ling smiled, and threw Weiss's sword from her hands using his own. He then placed the rubber sword on Weiss's throat.

"You must counter, it is not only about blocking." He explained. Weiss pouted, and picked up the sword. Ling nodded, and swiped at Weiss this time. Weiss blocked the strike, but this time, flipped it around so it would be rendered useless. Ling smiled.

"Good. Third time's the charm." 

Weiss giggled.

"You know, sometimes I forget you're only 10." Ling confessed. "You are quite the fighter for such a young age."

Weiss blushed. 

"Thank you, but it's because of you, Master Ling." She smiled. Ling patted her back.

"I'm an old man, Weiss. All I can give you is my own experience. Everything else, you must search for yourself."

Weiss looked up, a glint of confusion in her eyes.

"Hmmm?"

Ling chuckled.

"You need to learn some things about life on your own. When are older, and you lose your… innocence, you will understand that life is not easy for anyone." He explained. Weiss pouted and crossed her arms.

"Everyone always says that!" She pouted. "I don't wanna wait until I'm older!" 

Ling shook his head, and stretched. He was interrupted by the door being swung open. Mr. Schnee stood at the other end of the room, arms crossed.

"Ling, I thought you were teaching her."

Ling suddenly stood up.

"Sorry, Mister." 

Mr. Schnee signaled for him to follow him. Ling waved at Weiss playfully, and followed MR. Schnee.

Weiss never saw Ling again.

*_Filler chapter, I just wanted you guys to know a little more about Weiss's background in my vision of her._


	27. Chapter 27: Nika

Nika

Nika stood across from Blake and Yang, sword and shield at her side. The two stood looking at their opponent, wondering, who would get the first move? Nika, losing patience, decided to take that honor and threw her shield at Yang. Yang quickly ducked, and stood up. Only then did she realize the shield would be coming back, and she was struck in the back of the head as the shield made its way back into Nika's hands. She recovered, clutching her head. She shook it off, and prepared Ember Celica as her eyes turned red.

Yang charged towards Nika, fists clutched at her side. Her first strike was a hook, which was quickly blocked by a shield. Nonetheless, Nika was shoved back by the force of the punch. Blake, wanting to get in the action, attached Nika's shield to her hook, trying to pry it from her hands. Nika quickly reacted, and pulled the shield back. Blake was taken with the hook, and was sent flying face-forward into the marble floor. Nika leaped towards Blake, who lay face ground on the floor, her sword raised. Yang, sensing Blake's demise, quickly tackled Nika out of the way before any harm could be done. Yang brought her down to the floor, and pinned her, holding down Nika's arms with her knees. Yang aimed to punch Nika in the face, and when she did, she ended up hitting solid marble instead of flesh. Nika had moved her head out of the way, and using her flexibility and strength, head-butted Yang. Yang fell over, shaken by the strike, but quickly recovered before Nika could get another shot in. Yang retreated, and stood face-to-face with her enemy. Nika merely stared blankly.

"Not much of a talker?" Yang shouted. Nika kept her expression. Yang clutched her fist, even angrier at Nika's lack of caring. Blake saw the fire in Yang's eyes, and calmed her down.

"Look," Blake said, remaining in stance, "You need to remain calm, fighting angrily won't do any good." 

Yang exhaled, and her eyes turned back to their normal purple. She prepared Ember Celica, dusting off ash. NIka took the chance and did the same, wiping her sword off. As soon as she finished, Blake was on her as fast as the human eye could see. Fortunately for Nika, her eyes were better than human eyes, and easily countered Blake's attack, completely taking her off guard. Nika slashed at Blake, and struck her cheek. Blake retreated as her aura patched her up, looking at Nika in a dangerously curious way. Blake was very fast, and she knew it. How could even the best fighters block such speed?

She shook it off, and nodded at her partner. It was now Yang's turn. She nodded back, and slowly paced towards Nika, her fists raised.

She reached Nika, and faked a jab, successfully fooling her opponent. Nika raised her shield to block a frontal hit, leaving her sides open. Yang quickly threw a left hook, striking Nika in the liver, and sending her sliding across the floor. She slowly got up, clutching her side. Yang kept her composure, but on the inside was overjoyed at successfully hitting Nika for the first time, and had left her guard down celebrating in her head. Nika saw this in Yang's clouded eyes and feigned frown, and quickly charged towards her.

She lifted her foot, and kicked Yang to the ground. She slowly walked towards her, sword hanging limply in her hand, when suddenly Blake came and tackled her just as Yang had done before.

Yang smiled and got up, looking at Blake and Nika wrestling on the ground. Both had lost their weapons in the fall. Yang wanted to help, but did not want to accidentally hurt Blake, so she stood by. Blake pinned Nika, and began to pound at Nika's face. Whilst, doing this, she lost her grip on Nika's arms. Nika saw her chance, and raised her arms to choke Blake. Yang jumped back suddenly, surprised as Nika choked Blake. She quickly took action, and grabbed Nika's hand, yanking it from Blake's neck. Yang shoved Nika, off, and helped Blake up, quickly retreating after. Blake shook herself off, and prepared her weapons. Once again relying on her speed, she charged towards Nika. This time though, Nika was still recovering from Yang throwing her, and just barely escaped, rolling out of the way with just enough time. Blake simmered with uncharacteristic rage as she watched Nika dodge every one of her strikes. She once again charged, her rage blinding her. Nika saw she was being sloppy, and sprawled. Blake did not see this coming, and tripped over her. She was now on the ground, wide open for strikes. Nika stood over Blake, and bashed her with her shield once. Blake immediately went unconscious. Nika raised her shield once again, but Yang caught her arm this time, spun her around, and punched her as hard as she possibly could. The fire from the Ember Celica's blast had burned Nika, and she clutched her eye as it bled. One whole side of her face was red with blood, burned. Yang was very mad. Her eyes were red as ever. Blake had gone unconscious, and that meant only one thing.

Yang had not been a good teammate.

She brushed blood from her gloves, and looked at Nika, who had seemed to forget about her almost-mortal wound. She held her sword as strongly as before, her grip not weakening. Yang's eyes turned a lighter shade of red, somewhat discouraged by Nika's toughness. Nika saw the weakness, and charged. Yang quickly reacted, and using Ember Celica, blocked Nika's sword. She shoved her off, and went for a hook. Nika used her shield and blocked again. A long exchange of hits went on as the two duked it out. Yang, lost amidst the fighting, suddenly thought of one thing.

Nika sure reminded her of her fight with Pyrrha, back at the school. Even though she had lost, Weiss had won by not giving up, and remaining calm.

Yang's eyes turned their regular shade.

*_I enjoyed writing this. Anyway, have a nice night, guys._


	28. Chapter 28: Fin

Fin.

Nika had held off her opponents for a while, before Mr. Schnee called her, beckoning her to protect him as he fled. Nika obliged, and quickly left the fight to get to Mr. Schnee. Team RWBY and JNPR attempted to follow, but were foiled by a blinding light, most likely from Mr. Schnee's semblance. Before they knew it, he and Nika were nowhere to be seen. Ruby, taking quick action, pulled out her scroll, and called Penny.

"Penny, you still outside?" She frantically spit out. A murmur was heard. Ruby exhaled. "Ok, good. The Creator will be heading towards you, with Nika. Hold them off 'till we can get to you."

Ruby put away her scroll and nodded to her teammates. They all started ooking around, trying to find an exit, but no such thing could be found. The only thing close to an exit was a door that was sealed shut. After many tries, not even the strongest of them could open it. They decided to leave it.

"You know what, we're wasting our time. Let's get out from where we came from." Yang suggested. The other groaned, barely agreeing, but knowing it was the only option, complied.

Yang slammed the door open, and tore through the White Room, the others following close behind. Within a matter of seconds, they had passed the lab and were in the original room, where all the robots from the previous fight lay. They all looked up at the hole in the ceiling, and then at Weiss.

"What?" She sheepishly asked. Blake sighed.

"You gotta use your glyphs to propel us up there." She pointed out. Weiss hesitated for a moment, but nodded. She set her rapier to the white setting, and commanded, one-by-one, for everyone to stand where she could propel them. After launching them, she flinched, afraid she might miss the target, but luckily nothing along those lines happened, and everyone made it through the hole safely, including Weiss, who propelled herself up after helping the others.

"Let's go." Yang commanded, all of the group now together. The nodded in unison, and ran off to the front of the warehouse, where they had left Penny. As they reached the edge, they could see a huge black car, going full speed away from the warehouse, and Penny following closely behind, chasing on what seemed to be a pair of futuristic jet-boots. The group, without saying a word to each other, all jumped down and began to chase the car as well. Weiss used her glyphs to propel herself, Blake her pure speed, Ruby her scythe, Yang's speed fueled by her anger. The others used similar techniques, but still a couple lagged behind. Jaune, Ruby, Pyrrha, Yang, Nora, and even Ren were all left behind. This left only Blake and Weiss, who had the best and fastest technique. The stragglers, realizing they were not fast enough, gave up the chase and gathered, to wait for the others.

Blake and Weiss both came by Penny's side.

"Try taking out the wheels!" Penny shouted at the two. She herself opened up her back compartment and fired a sword, but it missed. Blake had nothing to fire, so it was all up to Weiss and Penny. Weiss took a couple shots using ice shards, and Penny continued to use her swords. This exchange of fire went on, the black car swerving out of the way of the objects being fired. Whilst attempting to dodge one of the objects, Mr. Schnee swerved off course and hit a lamp post, effectively stopping the car. The group that had been following the car swerved to a stop, and quickly ran to the crashed car. Mr. Schnee was nowhere to be seen, and when they searched the car, they found Nika, apparently dead from the crash, in the back.

Suddenly, as they searched, the distinct sound of a body hitting the ground was heard not too far off. Penny quickly went to the source of the sound, and found Mr. Schnee, passed out.

Epilogue

"Yes, officer. We only intended to help the people of Vale." Ruby told the officer, not looking him in the eye.

"Yes, child, but do you understand that if you told _us, _none of this would've happened? We would've stopped him from even getting in the tournament! You did _not _have to take matters into your own hands, young lady." He shouted. "Leave. Call Yang Xiao Long in."

Ruby bowed, and walked out of the interviewing room. Soon after, Yang stepped into the same room.

"Hello, Ms. Long." The officer started. Yang gave a weak wave, and slumped into the chair opposite the officer. "I will start by asking: What role did you play in this?"

Yang rolled her eyes. "I merely helped. I thought it was the right thing to do." She answered. The officer shook his head.

"The same as all of your friends said. Why did you not tell us?" He asked.

"We did not want our friend to be prosecuted by the court of Vale." She replied. The officer scratched his chin.

"Why would we prosecute a simple android such as her?" He queried.

"I'm sure you've found out she's way over the limit. I believe she's past military-grade. You know what happens as well as I do, officer." Yang told him. He chuckled.

"I suppose I do, Yang. And I'm sorry, but rules are rules. We must." He sighed. "You may leave."

Yang loudly pushed her chair back, and slammed the door behind her. The officer sighed, and held his head in his hands. Those kids seemed to be in this office every other month. They never ceased to get in trouble. And now, they were jumbled up into a federal case. Wenit Schnee, the old founder of Schnee Dust company, had been long involved in conspiracy and planning to perform a takeover of the government, and to extinguish an entire race… What had these children gotten themselves into? Now their friend would be sent off to be destroyed, and the school will most likely suspend them for their involvement in this case, as well as the death of Adam Taurus, which still needed investigation…. The lives of Team RWBY and JNPR would never, ever be the same again.

*_Thank you for everything, guys. I will post a thank you chapter at the end, with all credits and acknowledgements. You all truly have a place in my heart._


End file.
